Ethics for the Information Age Notes

3.1 Introduction

  • Networked communications are integral to our lives, including:
    • Internet
    • Cellular networks
  • Benefits:
    • Conducting business
    • Connecting with friends and relatives
    • Entertainment
  • Harms:
    • Scams
    • Bullying and harassment
    • Possible threats to democratic institutions
  • Far more people in the world have access to cell phones than to electricity or clean water.

3.2 Spam

  • The amount of Spam has declined since 2009.
  • How firms get email addresses:
    • Web sites, chat-room conversations, newsgroups
    • Computer viruses harvest addresses from PC address books
    • Dictionary attacks
    • Contests
  • Most spam sent out by bot herders who control huge networks of computers
  • New technologies sometimes cause new social situations to emerge
  • Spam is an example of this phenomenon:
    • Email messages practically free
    • Profits increase with the number of messages sent
    • Strong motivation to send more messages
  • The design of the Internet allows unfair, one-way communications
  • Case Study: Ann the Acme Accountant
    • Ann is an Accountant at Acme Corporation, with 50 employees.
    • Ann distributes paychecks to all 50 employees
    • Ann sends email advertising Girl Scout cookie sale
    • 9 recipients order cookies; average 4 boxes each
    • Other 40 recipients are unhappy to get email; half complain to a co-worker
    • Did Ann do anything wrong?

3.3 Internet Interactions

  • The World Wide Web
    • Web: networked hypertext system
    • Stimulated tremendous growth in popularity of Internet
  • Two important attributes
    • It is decentralized
    • Every Web object has a unique address (the URL)
  • People spending more time on smartphones and tablets
  • Using Web browsers awkward on mobile devices
  • Mobile apps replace Web browsers as way to access Internet on mobile devices

3.4 Text Messaging

  • Text Message Uses
  • Transforming live in developing countries
  • Twitter
  • Business Promotion

3.5 Political Impact of Social Media and Online Advertising

  • Political Activism
    • Ouster of Philippine president Joseph Estrada (2001)
    • Debatable role of social networking in Arab Spring uprisings
    • Massachusetts special election (2010)
    • Macedonian Entrepreneurs
    • Internet Research Agency
  • Concern that social media can harm democracy
  • Basis for concern
  • Traditionally the press (the Fourth Estate) has informed citizens and held power to account

3.6 Censorship

  • Definition: Attempt to suppress or regulate public access to material considered harmful or offensive
  • Traditionally exercised by governments and religious institutions
  • Printing press a game changer because it broke monopoly on distributing information held by governments and churches
  • Direct Censorship
    • Government monopolization
    • Prepublication review
    • Licensing and registration
  • Self-Censorship
    • Most common form of censorship
    • Group decides for itself not to publish
      • Reasons:
        • Avoid subsequent persecution
        • Maintain good relations with government officials (sources of information)
    • Ratings systems created to advise potential audience
      • Movies, TVs, CDs, video games
      • Not the Web
  • Challenges Posed by the Internet
    • Many-to-many communications
    • Dynamic connections
    • Huge number of Web sites
    • Global: extends beyond national borders, laws
    • Hard to distinguish between minors and adults
  • Governmental Filtering and Surveillance of Internet Content
    • North Korea: Internet virtually inaccessible
    • Saudi Arabia: Centralized control center
    • China
      • Blocks Internet access at times of social unrest
      • Has one of world’s most sophisticated filtering systems
    • Germany: Forbids access to neo-Nazi sites
    • United States: Repeated efforts to limit access of minors to pornography
  • Ethical Perspectives on Censorship
    • Kant opposed censorship
      • Enlightenment thinker
      • “Have courage to use your own reason”
    • Mill opposed censorship
      • No one is infallible
      • Any opinion may contain a kernel of truth
      • Truth revealed in clash of ideas
      • Ideas resulting from free and open discourse are more likely to influence “character and conduct”
  • Mill’s Principle of Harm
    • “The only purpose for which power can be rightfully exercised over any member of a civilized community, against his will, is to prevent harm to others. His own good, either physical or moral, is not a sufficient warrant.”
    • John Stuart Mill

3.7 Freedom of Expression

  • Freedom of Expression: History
    • Court of Star Chamber (England)
      • Administered broad anti-sedition law called De Scandalis Magnatum (1275)
      • Reported directly to King
      • Did not have to obey traditional rules of evidence
      • Convictions arose from verbal insults or private writings
    • 18th century
      • No prior restraints on publication
      • People could be punished for sedition or libel
    • American states adopted bills of rights including freedom of expression
    • Freedom of expression in 1st amendment to U.S. Constitution
  • 1st Amendment to U.S. Constitution
    • Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
  • Freedom of Expression Not an Absolute Right
    • 1st Amendment covers political and nonpolitical speech
    • Right to freedom of expression must be balanced against the public good
    • Various restrictions on freedom of expression exist
      • Justified when results in greater public good
      • Example: forbidding cigarette advertising on television and radio
  • Miller v. California 1973 Supreme Court
    • Established a test to determine if material is obscene and not protected by 1st Amendment
    • Following 3 questions:
      • Would the average person, applying contemporary community standards, find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the unwholesome interest?
      • Does the work depict or describe, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law?
      • Does the work, taken as a whole, lack serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value?
  • FCC v. Pacifica Foundation et al.
    • George Carlin records “Filthy Words”
    • WBAI in New York airs “Filthy Words” (1973)
    • FCC issues declaratory order to Pacifica
    • Pacifica sues the FCC
    • U.S. Supreme Court ruled FCC did not violate 1st Amendment (5-4 decision)
      • Broadcast media “uniquely pervasive”
      • Broadcasting uniquely accessible to children
  • Case Study: Kate’s Blog
    • Kate maintains a popular “life on campus” blog
    • Jerry is another student; active in Whig Party
    • At private birthday party, someone gives Jerry a Tory Party T -shirt as a gag, and Jerry puts it on
    • Kate uses cell phone to take picture of Jerry when he isn’t looking, posts it on her blog
    • Story read by many people on and off campus
    • Jerry confronts Kate and demands she remove photo; she complies, and they remain friends
    • Kate’s blog and Jerry both become more popular

3.8 Children and Inappropriate Content

  • Web Filters
    • Web filter: Software that prevents display of certain Web pages
      • May be installed on an individual PC
      • ISP may provide service for customers
    • Methodologies
      • Maintain “black list” of objectionable sites
      • Examine content for objectionable words/phrases
  • Child Internet Protection Act
    • Libraries receiving federal networking funds must filter pages containing obscenity or child pornography
    • U.S. Supreme Court ruled CIPA did not violate 1st Amendment guarantees (6-3 decision in June 2003)
  • Ethical Evaluations of CIPA
    • Kantian evaluation: CIPA is wrong
    • Act utilitarian evaluation: depends on how benefits and harms are weighed
    • Social contract theory: freedom of conscience should be given precedence
  • Sexting
    • Definition: sexually suggestive text messages or emails with nude or nearly nude photographs
    • Between 3 and 7 percent of teens are sexting
    • Only 1 percent have sent photos of bare breasts, genitalia, or “bottoms”
    • Case of Jesse Logan
    • Case of Ting-Yi Oei
    • Case of Phillip Alpert

3.9 Breaking Trust

  • Identity Theft (1 of 2)
    • Definition: When a person misuses another person’s identity
    • Leading form of identity theft is fraudulent use of an existing credit card or bank account
    • In 2017 about 7% of adults in U.S. reported being victims
    • Consumer’s liability for credit card losses limited to $50
    • Most banks and credit card companies over zero-liability fraud protection.
  • Phishing
    • e-mail based scam designed to persuade you to reveal confidential information
    • Spear phishing
    • Spoofing
    • Pharming
  • Fake Reviews
    • Survey of North Americans in 2014:
      • 88% used online reviews in past year
      • 39% read reviews regularly
      • Restaurants, hotels, doctors and dentists, beauty salons
    • Significant percentage of reviews are fraudulent
    • Yelp spends millions of dollars annually to identify and remove fake reviews
  • Online Predators
    • Instant messaging: software supporting real-time “chat” over the Internet
    • Popular apps: Kik Messenger, Whisper
    • Child predators use apps to find victims
    • Police run sting operations
      • Sometimes result in dozens of arrests
      • Allegation: Extreme methods to maintain arrest rates
    • Ethical Evaluation of Stings
  • False Information
    • Quality of Web-based information varies widely
    • Other media also have information of varying quality
      • The New York Times v. The National Enquirer
      • 60 Minutes v. Conspiracy Theory
    • Google attempts to reward quality
      • Ranking uses “voting” algorithm
      • If many links point to a page, Google search engine ranks that page higher
  • Cyberbullying
    • Definition: Use of the Internet or phone system to inflict psychological harm
    • In a 2009 survey, 10% admitted to cyberbullying, and 19% said they had been cyberbullied
    • Case of Ghyslain Raza
    • Case of Megan Meier
    • Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act
  • Revenge Porn
    • Special case of cyberbullying
    • Posting pornographic image with malicious intent without consent of participant(s)
    • Case of Hunter Moore, creator of website Is Anyone Up?
    • Criminalized in Germany, Israel, UK, and about half of U.S. states
    • Reddit, Twitter, Google have taken action to protect victims

3.10 Internet Addiction

  • Is Internet Addiction Real? (1 of 2)
    • Digital device users get immediate positive feedback through dopamine “hits” that make it difficult to break away from devices
    • Psychiatrist Jerald Block: Three variants of Internet addiction
      • Excessive gaming
      • Sexual preoccupations
      • Messaging
    • Block: Four characteristics of Internet addiction
      • Excessive use
      • Withdrawal symptoms
      • Tolerance
      • Negative social consequences
  • Is Internet Addiction Real? (2 of 2)
    • Traditional definition of addiction:
      • Compulsive use of harmful substance or drug
      • Knowledge of its long-term harm
    • American Psychiatric Association: insufficient data to list as a mental disorder
    • Contributing factors
      • Social factors
      • Situational factors
      • Individual factors
  • Ethical Evaluation
    • Enlightenment view (Kantianism, utilitarianism, social contract theory)
      • Individuals can and should govern their lives
      • People are responsible for their choices
    • Jeffrey Reiman’s view
      • Addict’s behavior makes sense if addict has no hope for a better future
      • Society bears responsibility for putting people in hopeless situations
  • Internet and cellular networks have revolutionized communication
    • More people than ever can interact to socialize, conduct business, organize political movements, and more
    • New opportunities for exploitation as well
  • Web is enormous, reflecting best and worst of humanity
  • Social media
    • Increasingly important way for people to get news
    • May be increasing political polarization
  • Governments must determine how to intervene, if at all
    • Controlling the kind of information that is available
    • Responding to Internet addiction