Death in the digital world

摘要

When tragedy strikes and a loved one is lost the last thing a grieving family would think is "what's to become of their Facebook page?" But for a growing number of people each year, dealing with digital belongingsthe deceased leaves behind - from their Twitter account to computer files stored remotely, in the cloud - is a difficult, messy task. That's why John Wightmann, a state senator in Nebraska, is drumming up support for a new state law that aims to make the process simpler. His bill would give a will's executor automatic access to someone's social media accounts so they can then decide whether to shut them down or run them as an online memorial. The only other US state with a similar law on the books is Oklahoma, which passed it in 2010.