We’ve known for a long time the world can be a nasty place at times. Hamelink explains “All the immoralities of physical life occur in virtual reality: censorship, lust for power, treason, stalking, lying, gossiping, peeping, stealing, cheating, seducing, breaking promises, insulting, and being unfaithful, unreliable, uncivilized, or abusive.” As a result of this those who were naive and sheltered before are being exposed to society’s grimy underbelly earlier and more often. Prior to the internet and its subsequent misuse one could live in ignorant bliss, ignore badness on the news and simply avoid the dark alleyways of Fortitude Valley.
Does this make online immorality acceptable? Not in the slightest, though short of absolute censorship there is next to nothing that it can be policed and controlled. As has been seen in Libya, Egypt and now China, even totalitarian government regimes can’t control what is aid over the internet. Online gate keeping is being left to the content creator, therefore it is up to us to choose what we consume and then believe online. At the risk of sounding crude and unsympathetic, the only remedy to poor online ethics is to wise up, and when that doesn’t work harden up. It’s the information era, being oblivious is no longer a feasible lifestyle choice.
- Hamelink, C. (2006). The Ethics of the Internet: Can we cope with Lies and Deceit on the Net? In Ideologies of the Internet, K. Sarikakis & Daya Thussu, pp. 115-130. New Jersey: Hampton Press. Available on CMD.
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