Internet use by Taiwanese aged 60 or older increased nearly 3 percentage points from 2019 to 2020, a report by the National Development Council (NDC) showed on Monday.
The report was presented by the council’s Department of Information Management during a committee meeting to discuss digital development and information trends in Taiwan.
Internet communication by Taiwanese aged 60 or older rose from 53.5 percent in 2019 to 56.2 percent in 2020.
It is often believed that Internet use drops after age 60, as reading text on a screen becomes increasingly difficult, department head Hsieh Tsui-chuan (謝翠娟) said.
However, the 3 percentage point jump was the highest growth rate among all age groups in 2020, the report showed.
Possible reasons are that people reaching that age bracket today are more likely to have become used to the Internet being in their lives, and that the Internet is more essential now for keeping in touch with friends, children and grandchildren, Hsieh said.
The report also showed that 65.2 percent of people surveyed in the past three months said that they used the Internet on a near daily basis, averaging 6.7 days per week.
ONLINE ADDICTION
Meanwhile, Taiwanese aged 20 to 29 are the most prone to Internet addiction, at 11.2 percent, it said.
This was followed by the 12 to 17 age group at 9.6 percent, and the 30 to 39 age group at 9.1 percent. Internet addiction among people aged 18 to 59 ranged from 6.9 percent to 8.6 percent, although the NDC did not provide details on how it determined these figures.
The top three online activities in which people engage are instant messaging (83.6 percent), video entertainment (76 percent), and searching for products and information online (65.4 percent), the report showed.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS