The Web as an Ethical Space.

Kieron O’Hara 02 December 2010

Applications of Ethics• Different types of situation make different ethical

demands

– Warfare– Medicine

• As do different types of space

– City– Private property– Wilderness

• These hold whether or not there are universal ethical principles

2

The Web is Such a Space• My claim: the Web

has specific properties

– Sufficiently unusual

– Sufficiently transformative

– Sufficiently central to human life

• Hence it needs special ethical thought

3

What Do I Mean By … ?• I do not mean:

– Information and Communication Technology– Digital technology– The Internet

• I mean the Web:

– Interlinked resources– URIs– HTTP– An application that uses the Internet Protocol

4

Why Special Treatment?• I claim the Web has a series of ethically-relevant

properties

• Some apply to other spaces

• Some apply to digital technology

• Some apply to the Internet

• The combination is specific to the Web

• If you’re not convinced, time to go home

5

Desiderata• The Web needs to support trusting interaction

• BUT ALSO the Web’s ethic needs to be self-sustaining

6

1. Scale

• The world’s most complex piece of technology

7

2. Speed• Millions of interactions can take place at the speed

of light

8

3. Liberal Underpinning• Web engineering

depends on decentralisation and free flow of information

9

4. International Jurisdiction• The Web is everywhere and nowhere

10

5. Survival of the Web

• The Web may fragment if the engineering isn’t right

11

6. Identity• Comparatively narrow bandwidth for interaction

12

7. Based on Copying• Trivial to duplicate resources

• Trivial to duplicate resources

• Trivial to duplicate resources

• Trivial to duplicate resources

• Trivial to duplicate resources

• Trivial to duplicate resources

• Trivial to duplicate resources

• Trivial to duplicate resources13

8. Heterogeneous Understanding• Relatively few widespread norms

14

9. Human/Artificial

• Different types of agent interact

15

10. The Past Never Dies• Our younger

selves live alongside us

16

Hence, For Example• Actions can affect very many people before the

consequences can be assessed

• Can the Web protect itself as a liberal society can?

• How do we manage identity online ethically?

• How can I deal fairly with people if I don’t know their expectations?

– If I don’t even know they are people?

17

What Kind of Ethics?• The Web thrives on serendipity and innovation

• Operative ethical emotions are esteem, pride, contempt etc

– Guilt, rewards, moral indignation seem out of place– An Aristotelian world– Web designers and content providers try to achieve

excellence

• Wikipedia• Hacking• Startups without a business model• PageRank

– Hard to explain in terms of incentives or rules

18

Example: Trust• The social dimension of Web-enabled intelligence

– Extended cognition (Harry Halpin, Andy Clark)– e-Science

• When do users trust information or processes online?

• There are no effective rules

– The rules in place are rarely followed (cf. Dhamjia)

– Being trustworthy goes beyond obeying the rules

19

The Webby Virtues• The Web is not a rule-

governed space

– Creative space– Telos of survival and

growth– Resource providers

aim at excellence with those parameters

• Virtue looks more appropriate to describe the ethics of the Web 20

Take Home Messages• The properties of the Web mean that it sets distinct

ethical problems

• Ethical excellence on the Web is better understood as virtue-based rather than rule-following

• Questions

– What is the end of the Web?– How does that relate to human self-

understanding?– What virtues should be expected from resource

providers?21

Disclaimer• Texts, marks, logos, names, graphics, images,

photographs, illustrations, artwork, audio clips, video clips, and software copyrighted by their respective owners are used on these slides for non-commercial, educational and personal purposes only. Use of any copyrighted material is not authorized without the written consent of the copyright holder. Every effort has been made to respect the copyrights of other parties. If you believe that your copyright has been misused, please direct your correspondence to: kmo@ecs.soton.ac.uk stating your position and I shall endeavour to correct any misuse as early as possible.

22