S. No. Title
1 Introduction
2 How Social Media Has Helped The Masses
3 Why Are Ethics Necessary For Social Media?
4 Ethics For Wrong Reporting
5 Challenges To Social Media Ethics
6 Privacy and Social Media
7 Fake News
8 Cyber Security
Recent Government Guidelines on Social Media
Conclusion
Introduction
Social media is communication through websites and other online platforms (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn) that are used by large groups of people to share information, develop social and professional contacts, and promote business.
The fast moving era also influenced technological growth. Nowadays almost everyone can share information and communicate directly by using social media through the internet which saves more time and cost.
Indeed, users have freedom in using social media to communicate with anyone. What is ignored here is the ethics in using it. It would be much better if users know what ethics should be noticed when using social networking.
How Social Media Has Helped The Masses
Today, social media has become a major part of numerous lives through countless websites and apps, and people have been able to connect with others and share their thoughts, emotions, experiences, etc. It’s been able to provide a source of entertainment and shopping, and many businesses have even found it useful for promotion and marketing. At this point, social media has had such a huge impact on society that it seems like people couldn’t live without it.
1. Across industries, social media is going from a “nice to have” to an essential component of any business strategy
It’s a trend that is already spreading to businesses, whether it be because of digital marketing or new customer service communication channels. O
2. Social media platforms may be the banks of the future Imagine being able to pay your rent or make an investment through your favourite social network. Social media is transforming banking relationships in very significant ways, from improving customer service to allowing users to send money to others via online platforms. New financial technology companies are using social media to help people simply open a bank account. Social media can even impact your ability to get a loan.
3. Social media is shaking up healthcare and public health The health industry is already using social media to change how it works, whether through public health campaigns or virtual doctor’s visits on Skype. It’s also helped groups of people, such as patients suffering from the same condition
4. Social media is changing how we govern and are governed Civic participation and engagement has been transformed with social media. Social media allows citizens to be the source of ideas, plans and initiatives in an easier way than ever before. In the future, we can expect more and more leaders to embrace this type of transparent governance, as it becomes easier for them to interact with their constituents. Whereas politicians and government officials once had to travel to interact with citizens, now online town halls strengthen the connections between them, while providing a platform for direct input on government initiatives.
5. Social media is helping us better respond to disasters
From Facebook’s Safety Check – which allows users in disaster zones to mark themselves as safe – to the rise of the CrisisMappers Network, we’ve seen many
examples of how social media and digital communications more broadly are helping respond to disasters.
6. Social media is helping us tackle some of the world’s biggest challenges, from human rights violations to climate change Content shared on social media has increasing potential to be used as evidence of wartime atrocities and human rights violations.
This capacity for social media to bring together disparate but like-minded people is also helping fight another enormous challenge: climate change. Social media has become an important tool for providing a space and means for the public to participate in influencing or disallowing environmental decisions historically made by governments and corporations that affect us all. It has created a way for people to connect local environmental challenges and solutions to larger-scale narratives that will affect us as a global community.
7. Business impact
Businesses across the globe can now amplify their brand message to a wider audience than they could ever dream of doing before achieving success that they could only wish for. In the old days, the mass media ruled. A company had to pony up thousands or even millions of dollars to be heard in most cases. Very large companies with deep pockets ruled the roost. Only those businesses could afford to have wider reach.
Small companies are curving out a market for themselves amongst the 2. 4 billion people are estimated to be connected on social media quite easily. Compared to television advertisements and other expensive forms of marketing, social media presence is a cheap and effective means to enhance brand image and popularity.
8. Social Impact
● In terms of social circles, social media has broken down barriers when it comes to communicating and we are spoilt for choice when it comes to ways of getting in contact with someone.
● Social media has also made it easier for us to express ourselves. Whether that is through Facebook, Instagram pictures, YouTube videos, Medium articles. Normal people now have the capacity to make their opinion known on a massive scale. Within a few minutes, thousands could know about your opinion.
● Social media has also made it easier for us to track people down. There are seemingly endless sources we can search to access the information we need to find the people we have to find.
● Social networks offer the opportunity for people to reconnect with their old friends and acquaintances, make new friends, trade ideas, share content and pictures, and many other activities.
No doubt that social media is changing and will continue to change our society. This change is permanent because the upcoming generation won’t even know a world where social media does not exist. This has its advantages and disadvantages, but like everything else, it’s up to the user to decide whether social media can enhance their lives or not and this all depends on how they decide to use it.
Why Are Ethics Necessary For Social Media?
Social media has become an integral part of our lives. It has given us a platform to share necessary information with just a single click. Through social media, we are having access to the tiniest bit of information of every nook and corner of the world. As information we share through social media can be interpreted differently by different people. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the sensitivity of an issue that we talk about on social media and sentiments of people attached to it.
Social media provides us a platform to speak our minds and express our opinions but it can take an extreme turn if one does not handle the flow of information rationally. To reduce such chances of social media abuse, ethical code of conduct is necessary to guide social media users that what information requires the attention and how it’d be helpful to people. Social media provide a freedom to communicate with anyone we want but sometimes what we ignore is the ethical ways to do it and lack of awareness about those ethics can prompt social problems.
Some of the ethics that one must keep in mind while accessing social media platforms are
1. Polite communication: there have been many cases when people use abusive words and address people harshly, both intentionally and unintentionally. A polite communication and proper use of words will set off good communication, which is very necessary to build a good rapport and earn respect from the people whom we are connected through social media.
2. News validity: nowadays people easily get influenced by hoax news and it leads to greater social issues. Therefore, it is very necessary to check the validity of news before sharing it on social media.
3. Avoid using too much personal information: it is important to be clear about not sharing your personal life on social media excessively as it can be used to harm you. Therefore, one must not share his/her personal info like contact number, mail id or home address on social media. We must be wise about laying some boundaries between our social life and personal life.
4. Mention the source: while sharing any video, picture or writing, one must mention its source and always avoid copy pasting the content. it’ll show that you appreciate the work done by other people and stay truthful about the info you share.
5. Avoid conflict triggering information: one must decide wisely to share triggering images of any violent issue or accident images. There must be a warning mentioned for the viewers if they want to see it or not as they can generate heated debates, violence and wrong ideas. Also, we must be sensitive about spreading any information related to race and religion.
Ethics For Wrong Reporting
In light of fake news and spread of misinformation, wrong reporting and unethical reportage of news events. Journalism is an ethical profession that includes the reporting of events in a true and crisp manner. Here are 6 Ethics for Journalism and reporting:-
1. Truth and Accuracy
Journalists cannot always guarantee ‘truth’, but getting the facts right is the cardinal principle of journalism. We should always strive for accuracy, give all the relevant facts we have and ensure that they have been checked. When we cannot corroborate information we should say so.
2. Independence
Journalists must be independent voices; we should not act, formally or informally, on behalf of special interests whether political, corporate or cultural. We should declare to our editors – or the audience – any of our political affiliations, financial arrangements or other personal information that might constitute a conflict of interest.
3. Fairness and Impartiality
Most stories have at least two sides. While there is no obligation to present every side in every piece, stories should be balanced and add context. Objectivity is not always possible, and may not always be desirable (in the face for example of brutality or inhumanity), but impartial reporting builds trust and confidence.
Perhaps ethical reporting can be achieved through fairness and impartial reportage of events by the reporters.
4. Humanity
Journalists should do no harm. What they publish or broadcast may be hurtful, but they should be aware of the impact of their words and images on the lives of others. In addition, they should report events in a humane manner and refrain from reporting information in an insensitive manner.
5. Accountability
A sure sign of professionalism and responsible journalism is the ability to hold ourselves accountable. When we commit errors we must correct them and our expressions of regret must be sincere not cynical. We listen to the concerns of our audience. We may not change what readers write or say but we will always provide remedies when we are unfair.
6. Proper attribution
Journalists must never plagiarise. If they use information from another media outlet or journalist, they need to attribute it to them. Moreover, they must quote the source of their information in order to be clear and concise while reporting news.
Challenges To Social Media Ethics
No doubt, social media has several benefits and allows us to connect with people all over the world with similar interests. but as everything has its pros and cons, so does the use of social media. Along with the benefits, it comes with its own challenges. Some of them are
1. OVERSHARING- sometimes people overshare about their personal life. They tend to put everything on social media like where they are having dinner, what activity they are doing, what places they are visiting, etc. it seems normal to share this information but it pin-points the location of the user which can be easily traced and puts them in danger. Oversharing can also lead to damage to a person's reputation especially if the intent is to leverage the platform for business. Photos of drunken behaviour, drug use, partying or other inappropriate content can change the perception of people about you.
2. AUTHENTICITY- another challenge that social media users face is lack of authenticity of content which can be very problematic. Sharing of unauthentic content
can unknowingly make people get involved in activities that might defame someone’s reputation.
3. IMPACT ON PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT- today young age group people, mainly students are very active in sharing content on social media. They are the most active users of the platforms. Apart from spending long hours on social media, it can impact on their personal growth. Rather than being productive and doing activities that can lead them one step closer to their future goals, they spend hours and hours sitting and scrolling down on their Instagram.
Privacy and Social Media
Social media and the information/digital era have “redefined'' privacy. In today’s Information Technology—configured societies, where there is continuous monitoring, privacy has taken on a new meaning.
● Personal computers and devices such as our smartphones enabled with Global Positioning System (GPS), Geo locations and Geo maps connected to these devices make privacy as we know it, a thing of the past. It is almost impossible to say privacy exists in this digital world.
● The open nature of the social networking sites and the avenues they provide for sharing information in a “public or semi-public” space create privacy concerns by their very construct. Information that is inappropriate for some audiences are many times inadvertently made visible to groups other than those intended and can sometimes result in future negative outcomes.
● Technology has reduced the gap between professional and personal spaces and often results in information exposure to the wrong audience. The reduction in the separation of professional and personal spaces can affect image management especially in a professional setting resulting in the erosion of traditional professional image and impression management.
● Privacy in SNSs is “multifaceted.” Users of these platforms are responsible for protecting their information from third-party data collection and managing their personal profiles. However, participants are usually more willing to give personal and more private information in SNSs than anywhere else on the Internet. This can be attributed to the feeling of community, comfort and family that these media provide for the most part.
Potential Dangers
1. Identity theft - Identity theft occurs when someone uses another person's personal identifying information, like their name, identifying number, or credit card number, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes.
2. Preteens and early teenagers - Among all other age groups, in general, the most vulnerable victims of private-information-sharing behavior are preteens and early teenagers.
3. Stalking - With the amount of information that users post about themselves online, it is easy for users to become a victim of stalking without even being aware of the risk.
4. Unintentional fame - Unintentional fame can harm a person's character, reputation, relationships, chance of employment, and privacy- ultimately infringing upon a person's right to the pursuit of happiness.
5. Online victimization - Social networks are designed for individuals to socially interact with other people over the Internet. However, some individuals engage in undesirable online social behaviors, which negatively impacts other people's online experiences.
6. Surveillance - Every online move leaves cyber footprints that are rapidly becoming fodder for research without people ever realizing it. Social media sites are collecting data from us just by searching something such as "favorite restaurant" on our search engine.
7. Law enforcement prowling the networks - Government use of social media monitoring software can be used to geographically track us as we communicate. It can chart out our relationships, networks, and associations. It can monitor protests, identify the leaders of political and social movements, and measure our influence.
8. Mob rule - The idea of the 'mob rule' can be described as a situation in which control is held by those outside the conventional or lawful realm.
9. Location updates - Foursquare, Facebook, Loopt are applications which allow users to check- in and these capabilities allow a user to share their current location information to their connection. the disclosure of location information within these networks can cause privacy concerns among mobile users.
10. Invasive privacy agreements - Another privacy issue with social networks is the privacy agreement. The privacy agreement states that the social network owns all of the content that users upload. This includes pictures, videos, and
messages are all stored in the social networks database even if the user decides to terminate his or her account.
Today social networks are becoming the platform of choice for hackers and other perpetrators of antisocial behavior. In many cases users unintentionally disclose
information that can be both dangerous and inappropriate. Protecting privacy in today’s networked society can be a great challenge. The digital revolution has indeed distorted our views of privacy, however, there should be clear distinctions between what should be seen by the general public and what should be limited to a selected group.
Fake News
The glut of information has generated intense competition for people's attention. Stories and opinions can gain exposure with unprecedented speed, giving individuals around the globe continuous access to a near-real-time conversation about both important and trivial matters. As Nobel Prize–winning economist and psychologist Herbert A. Simon noted, “What information consumes is rather obvious: it consumes the attention of its recipients.” One of the first consequences of the so-called attention economy is the loss of high-quality information. Information overload has led to an overflow of content that is generally too much for the masses to consume. They rather go through the top stories and news and prefer to share/ retweet them. While academic research on the dark aspects of social media use, which includes information overload, social media fatigue, fear of missing out and coping strategies, has intensified the perceptions and behaviours underlying the sharing of fake news are not clear. With the increasing popularity of a wide variety of internet-enabled devices and advanced mobile internet speeds, more and more people are getting involved with social media.
Often referred to as “fake news” in modern times, the term “misinformation” is defined as false or inaccurate information that may be distributed with the intent to deceive those who read it.
Information or opinions that you disagree with may not necessarily constitute misinformation. While the term “fake news” is often used as a pejorative in journalism today.
Misinformation On SMPs
1. Clickbait
Clickbait is sensationalized content or headlines designed to attract attention by appealing to readers’ emotions (often anger) or curiosity. It is usually light on facts or any other meaningful information. Clickbait can spread fake news. Incensed readers may share this poorly researched and poorly written content with their social circles, directing bad information to more and more eyes.
2. Misleading Headlines
Misleading headlines can be used to generate interest by appealing to our emotions and curiosity. Even if the article itself is well-written and based on fact, the content can give a false impression if the headline is misleading. For this reason, such headlines may be called “clickbait,” even if they don’t fit the definition of that term as outlined above. Unfortunately, research indicates that most social media users share articles based on the headline without actually having read the article. If the headline doesn’t accurately reflect the truth, it may have the same effect as stories that are complete fabrications.
3. Unreliable news
Unreliable news sources tend to focus more on opinion-based than fact-based reporting, and they generally lack strong fact-checking. They often demonstrate clear biases and present skewed information, failing to present balanced perspectives on topics they discuss.
The Honeycomb Framework
The honeycomb is a popular framework that sheds light on the possible reasons for sharing of information on social media platforms (SMP). Developed by Kietzmann et al. (2011), the framework covers seven social media building blocks: identity, conversations, sharing, presence, relationships, reputation and groups. Scholars have used the honeycomb framework to study social media adoption (Ngai et al., 2015), online recovery strategies (Azemi et al., 2019), etc. Highlighting the shortage of frameworks and theories to analyse social media strategies, Effing and Spil (2016) suggested that the framework serves as a reasonable basis for examining the various functions of social media. Given that the framework explores the reasons for exchange of information on SMPs, it is ideal for the current study's focus on the dissemination process of fake news. In this study, we use it to better understand the emergent themes that represent the manifestations of fake-news sharing behaviour.
Cyber Security
The rise and evolution of social media has changed the definition of communication and social interaction. We have seen how different social media platforms like Facebook and twitter have brought a revolutionary change to the way we used to use the Internet for both personal and professional purposes. There is no doubt or space to deny the effective impact of these social media platforms on our regular life, professional life, and even on our business. Every good thing has some drawbacks and loopholes, and it is advised to be aware about those loopholes before getting trapped inside of those loopholes. Online or cyber security is one such issue which is directly involved with the uses and impacts of social media networks. As the growth of social networking sites has
brought various benefits it also has brought various security concerns. It also provides a vulnerable platform to be exploited by the attackers. Some issues associated are as follows.
● Misusing Identity: The attacker impersonates the identity of any user results in misusing identity. The attackers attack through the applications in which they ask for granting permission for accessing the information provided in Social Networking Sites.
When a user allows doing so, they will gain access to all the information and that information can be misused without the knowledge of the user.
● Threats from using 3rd Party Applications: These applications seek permission from the user to access personal information for all the various games and apps. The user grants the app a certain level of permission concerning the user’s information. And some of these applications which are playing at the foreground may download malware on the user’s computer or phone without their consent.
● Trusting Social Networking Sites Operators: The contents that user uploads or posts on social networking sites, the information is available with the networking operators. The operators can save account data even after deletion.
● Viruses, Phishing Attacks and Malwares: Viruses and malware often find their way onto your computer through those annoying ads. After gaining access to the network, the attacker can access or steal confidential data by spreading spam mails.
● Legal Issues: Posting contents that are offensive to any individual or community or country. There are legal risks associated with the use of social networking sites like leaking confidential information on sites or invading someone’s privacy.
● Tracking Users: It can cause physical security concerns for the user, as the third parties may access the roaming information of the user by collecting the real-time update on the user’s location.
● Privacy of Data: Users share their information on social networking sites and can cause privacy breaches unless proper security measures are applied. For example, everyone can see the information of a user if the user’s default setting is ‘public’.
Recent Government Guidelines on Social Media
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeITY) has announced its draft Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, for social media platforms, OTT players & digital media with significant recommendations including asking social media companies to give out the originator of a message or tweet as the case may be. Government has recently come up with new guidelines to curb the misuse of social media platforms and to regulate OTT platforms, messaging services and news portals. These rules will be requiring compliance of foreign-tech giants operating in India like Whastapp, Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, Amazon, etc.
Social media platforms with minimum 50 lakh registered users are classified as significant social media intermediaries and are subject to maximum compliances. However, the Government may require any other social media platform to also comply with rules applicable to significant social media intermediaries if services of such platform create a material risk to the sovereignty or integrity of India.
New rules and regulations given by Government for Social Media use are
1. All significant social media intermediaries are required to appoint: ● Chief Compliance Officer who shall be responsible for ensuring
compliance with the Act and Rules.
● Nodal Contact Person for 24×7 coordination with law enforcement agencies.
● Resident Grievance Officer who shall perform the functions mentioned under Grievance Redressal Mechanism.
Each of the above are required to be Indian residents.
The Rules also necessitate significant social media intermediaries to have a physical contact address in India. This mandatory physical presence in India will have significant implications for foreign players in terms of setting up infrastructure and deployment of resources and taxation.
2. Active monitoring of harmful content
Significant social media intermediaries are now required to endeavour to deploy technology-based measures, including automated tools to identify information that depicts rape, child sexual abuse or conduct, or information that has previously been
removed. The rules also require maintenance of appropriate human oversight, and periodic review of automated tools.
3. Verification of users
Significant social media intermediaries are to provide a mechanism for verification of user accounts, like through mobile numbers. Verified users are to be identified by a demonstrable mark such as a tick or dot. Though such verification by users is voluntary, it may still be a setback for user privacy.
4. Identification of originator of information
Messaging services (with more than 50 lakh users) will be required to enable identification of the first originator of information if required by a court order or an order of the Government under Section 69 of the IT Act. Such identification of a user brings into question the end-to-end encryption offered by services such as WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, etc.; and whether identifying a user as the “first originator” of mischievous information accurately is practically possible for a platform.
With the new rules, India joins nations across the world increasingly looking to regulate social media platforms. Recently, Twitter clashed with the Indian government on content takedown requests. The government had asked the micro-blogging giant to remove some 1,100 accounts and posts for alleged spread of misinformation about the widespread protests by farmers against new agricultural laws.
5. OTT content platforms, digital media
The government has called for a grievance redressal system for OTT platforms and digital news media portals as well. The government is also asking OTT platforms and digital news media to self-regulate and wants a mechanism for addressing any grievances.
While films have a censor board, OTT platforms will require to self-classify their movies and content based on age. The government wants the OTT players to classify films based on 13+, 16+ and those for adults and clarified it is not bringing any kind of censorship to these platforms. There has to be a mechanism of parental lock and ensuring compliance with the same. Platforms like Netflix already have an option for a parental lock.
Conclusion
Currently, the use of social media has become a part of human’s life everywhere. It allows the users to get and share information all over the world in a very short time.
Unfortunately, the consequences of social media abuse in spreading information also affect the number of users who enter the legal domain resulting from the information spread on social media that is unethical.
As an effort to reduce the problem in using social media, ethical conduct is needed to prevent from mutually insulting or accusing others for no apparent reason. As a matter of fact, these matters will lead the users into law for being careless in spreading information on the internet.
In today’s information age, one’s digital footprint can make or break someone; it can be the deciding factor on whether or not one achieves one’s life-long ambitions. Unethical behavior and interactions on social media can have far reaching implications both professionally and socially. Posting on the Internet means the “end of forgetting,” therefore, responsible use of this medium is critical.
The unethical use of social media has implications for privacy and can result in security breaches both physically and virtually. The use of social media can also result in the loss of privacy as many users are required to provide information that they would not divulge otherwise. Social media use can reveal information that can result in privacy breaches if not managed properly by users. Therefore, educating users of the risks and dangers of the exposure of sensitive information in this space, and encouraging vigilance in the protection of individual privacy on these platforms is paramount. This could result in the reduction of unethical and irresponsible use of these media and facilitate a more secure social environment. The use of social media should be governed by moral and ethical principles that can be applied universally and result in harmonious relationships regardless of race, culture, religious persuasion and social status.
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