Social Media Ethics: A Case Study of the Christchurch Mosque Attack

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ITC506 ASSESSMENT 3: ARGUMENT
VISUALISATION
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Ethical Issues...................................................................................................................................3
Ethical Theories and its application.................................................................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................8
Argument Visualization...................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10
Appendix........................................................................................................................................11
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“Social media deserves blame for spreading the Christchurch video, but so do we”
Introduction
Social media is a global and public platform which has reduced boundaries and distances in
different parts of the globe. The advancements in information and communication technology
have provided for major merits and demerits alongside the application of practices. The essay
will communicate and educate the readers regarding the significant role of ethical thinking and
decision making plays in the usage of social media portals (Shore, et. al., 2011). The essay will
analyze an article that will support for developing a greater understanding of the ethical issues
faced in the contemporary usage of social media. It will further outline the ethical issue identified
in the article as well as will demonstrate for developing for the conclusion that supports
increasing the practice of ethical decision making in the application of social media.
The article discusses the incidence of massively propagating the miserable massacre of Christ
church shooting. The article has provided for blaming social media as a convergent medium or
tool to publically spread and share the widespread event of shooting at the church. According to
the author of the article, Friday mosque shootings included excessive use of social media such as
Facebook and Twitter to propagate the alleged terrorism and its activities around the world. The
social media users today are provided with tools like Autoplay video and trending hash tags has
provided with unwilling widespread violent material and content throughout different channels
of social media (Bogle, 2019). The social media has been used by different people and
associations online to share the violent content and spread the news in different ways intended to
circumvent the Facebook and YouTube censors. This widespread propagation of the incidence
through the video and sharing of the pictures online only contributed to worsening the situations.
It developed for increasing the scope of hate speech and depiction for the success of terrorism
and its attacks on the church.
Ethical Issues
The ethical issue related to the article and the incidence of public voluntary spreading the news
of terrorism globally is identified to be Regulation on the Internet. It should be considered as a
moral and ethical duty of the individuals using social media and its different platforms to
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sensibly share content online. The article has highlighted the issue of taking down 1.5 million
videos of the attack within 24 hours of the incidence globally (Bogle, 2019). It highlights the
issues of the public using social media mediums to spread negativity in the times of desperate
love and unity. It must be considered as the moral duty of the public using such mediums to
share content in a calculative manner and analyzing the results of material shared by them online.
It is not just the responsibility of such online social media platforms and mediums to restrict the
spread of such content but also of the public using such mediums. The development of this
negative content sharing on social media platforms amplified the communities to normalizing
hate speech. Facebook was used as a prime medium by the terrorist to propagate the incidence as
2 billion users viewed the incidence live (Bogle, 2019). The social media companies have used
different technical processes known as hashing which enables to remove the content similar to
banned content. However, the public users disregarded the tools and efforts of the social media
organizations as they actively tried to record their screen through different mediums and devices.
Ethical Theories and its application
The ethical theories of utilitarianism, deontology, contract, and virtue can be applied in order to
further research and understand the article and the issues represented. The ethical theory of
Deontology can be supplemented in the article to comprehend the issue of regulation on the
internet. The ethical theory of deontology states that people are required to adhere to their
obligations and duties when scenarios of decision making with respect to ethics are required
(D’Arcy & Young, 2012). The theory of deontology supports for abiding by the obligations an
individual has towards the society and the members of the society. As per the theory it is
required for an individual to follow up with one’s duty in the scenarios of ethical decision
making. In the article, it was required for the public to follow up with their obligations towards
the society and develop an ethical decision making by not publicizing and propagating the
negative incidence of the terror attack.
The ethical theory of Utilitarianism states for one’s ability to predict the consequences of the
actions and the decision undertaken. The individuals must undertake calculative decisions and
actions which enable to gather and predict the outcomes in an effective manner. As per the
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theory, the choice that benefits the majority of people and supports the choices of the majority of
people is considered as an ethical decision. The theory presents with two types of utilitarianism
as Act and Rule Utilitarianism. As the article stated that most of the public shared and viewed the
violent content without judging for the future outcomes and deliverables of the decisions made
(Couldry, 2015). The social media users in these scenarios were required to undertake ethical
decision making by subsiding the sharing of negative and hate speech content. It was required by
the public to think as per the domains of the Utilitarianism theory of ethics.
The ethical theory based on rights provides with that the rights established by the society are
essential and have a higher priority for decision making by an individual. The theory provides
that rights are to be considered as ethically correct and valid as a greater section of the
population abides by them and supports ethical decision making (Couldry, 2015). The theory
states that individuals may develop rights upon others when they have the ability and resources.
The article endorses for public’s fault in developing unethical rights and norms by spreading the
terrorist activities in the society through social media portals.
The theory of Virtue in ethical theory provides to judge an individual through his or her
character rather than actions that may deviate them from normal behaviours. The theory states
that a person’s morals, reputation, and motivation must be considered when an individual
indulges into unethical activities and decision making. The individuals and society must develop
for analyzing the reputation and the motivation of individuals while making decisions in ethical
formats and concerns (Vaughn, 2015). The demerit of virtue ethical decision making is
considered that it does not account and considers for determining the change in an individual’s
moral character and personality. The theory only determines for considering the past records and
activities to judge for the current deeds and functions undertaken by an individual. The article
also uses this theory to support that it is not only the moral obligation of the media platforms and
companies but also of the users applying these platforms in their activities and decision making.
It is necessary for the contemporary and dynamic society to resolve these issues and gather
eminent redressal procedures. The ethical issue in information and communication technology
has often resulted in magnitudes of differences and issues in society. In consideration to the
article and the case study discussed in the article, it is essential for the society and its members to
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consider ethics and moral while decision-making process is followed (Grant, et. al., 2017). The
society is required to consider four ethics discussed in the essay and provide with a focus on the
consequences of the decisions executed. Social media is a furious and fast-paced medium that
spreads content and details rapidly. It fosters for both positive and negative aspect of content
sharing. The mediums and tools of social media are often used and deployed to share content and
reach out to larger masses without indulging ineffective costing systems. The positive aspect can
be considered with the demonstration of widespread knowledge and data generation regarding
different aspects.
However, it is crucial for the effective and sustainable application of social media as a medium
of information and communication technology to use the concepts and practices of ethics and
ethical decision making. The users of social media are required to consider the ethical
considerations and the future implications of sharing data and content on these mediums. From
the readings and research of the article, it has been identified that there is a lack of ethical
decision making in the users while using social media (Lipschultz, 2014). The incidence of
Christ Church shooting and the widespread circulation of live and offline videos of the incidence
depicted lack of ethics and regulations on the internet. There is a psychological and negative
impact on the viewers who unwillingly viewed the videos due to the rampant spread and huge
scale of propagation of the negative information. The impact of viewing this traumatic footage
stays for many years and may also develop a permanent subsiding impact on the memory of the
viewers. These videos create a vicious cycle of recalling and remembering the tragic and
traumatic incidences on the viewers.
These social media mediums and portals are just technology-driven are requires us, humans, to
inculcate the sense of ethics and morals in the aspects of content sharing. Facebook and other
social media platforms are recommended to ban the facilities of live streaming and posting of the
videos in the turbulent times when a tragic incidence occurs. The public and the social media
regulators have to work together in order to develop for the strategic and ethical use of social
media and its various channels to communicate and interact on a global platform (Moreno, et. al.,
2013). The users are required to be instilled with the practice of ethical decision making and
considering the regulations of the internet. The users are required to demonstrate the aspects of
ethics that sharing and wide spreading the violent and traumatic content causes no good to the
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society and the viewers. These users must be educated for the aspect of developing ethics in the
application of social media and its portals online.
As the considerations of the article and the case study provided in the article, it can be stated that
users and viewers must develop a sense of ethical thinking on a daily basis so that it is reflected
on the activities of content sharing. The public sharing the violent videos and content of the
attack acted as an agent of the terrorist to widespread the message and the results of the inhuman
activity (Couldry, 2012). The social media companies and the internet regulators must strategize
to develop approaches for restricting the online activities and spreading of unethical content on
the mediums. To resolve such issues is the need of the hour as it will support for ethics and
reasonable thinking in society. It is required to restrict the activities of hate speech and
unregulated content sharing for developing a moral and ethics based application of social media.
The perspective of social media requires developing guidelines and policies that educates and
communicates with the users in an effective manner.
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Conclusion
It has been reflected and retrieved from the discussions of discussions in the essay while
analyzing the case study to develop for a regulatory framework in order to install ethical and
moral based thinking in the social media users. The users and the social media companies are
required to be provided with guidelines that create opportunities to support ethical decision
making. It is further concluded and developed that ethics must be considered as a contemporary
dimension of engaging in the practices of social media (Lipschultz, 2014). Ethics should be
included in the practices of information and communication technology to support the
development and advancement of sustainable and effective communication practices. In the
rapidly developing scenarios of social media where everything is a click away, it is necessary for
the users to invest time and develop calculative decisions before hasty sharing of content is
executed.
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Argument Visualization
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References
 Alia, V. (2004). Media ethics and social change. Psychology Press.
 Bogle. A., (2019). Social media deserves blame for spreading the Christchurch video, but
so do we. [Online]. ABC. Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2019-03-
19/facebook-to-blame-for-Christchurch-live-video-but-so-are-we/10911238. [Accessed
on: 27.04.2019].
 Couldry, N. (2012). Media, society, world: Social theory and digital media practice.
Polity.
 Couldry, N. (2015). Listening beyond the echoes: Media, ethics, and agency in an
uncertain world. Routledge.
 D’Arcy, A., & Young, T. M. (2012). Ethics and social media: Implications for
sociolinguistics in the networked public 1. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 16(4), 532-546.
 Grant, P., Arjoon, S., & McGhee, P. (2017). Reconciling Ethical Theory and Practice.
 Lipschultz, J. H. (2014). Social media communication: Concepts, practices, data, law,
and ethics. Routledge.
 Moreno, M. A., Goniu, N., Moreno, P. S., & Diekema, D. (2013). Ethics of social media
research: common concerns and practical considerations. Cyberpsychology, behavior,
and social networking, 16(9), 708-713.
 Shore, R., Halsey, J., Shah, K., Crigger, B. J., & Douglas, S. P. (2011). Report of the
AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs: professionalism in the use of social
media. The Journal of clinical ethics, 22(2), 165-172.
 Vaughn, L. (2015). Doing ethics: Moral reasoning and contemporary issues. WW
Norton & Company.
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Appendix
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