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Ethical Framework for User-Enabled Choice and Normative Claims

This article explores the ethical considerations and mechanisms for user-enabled choice in the digital age. It discusses the balance between control and access on the information highway and the importance of universal access to information. The article also examines the challenges and solutions for addressing harmful and illegal content online, as well as the role of codes of conduct and technology in realizing ethical policies.

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Ethical Framework for User-Enabled Choice and Normative Claims

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  1. An Ethical Framework: Mechanisms For User-Enabled Choice and Normative Claims Marshall Conley, Christina Patterson, Carolyn Watters & Michael Shepherd InfoEthics 2000 Paris November 13-15

  2. Universal Declaration of Human Rights • UNESCO has human rights competence in a number of areas, including: • Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stresses the right to information, including freedom of opinion and expression • This right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers • Article 12 refers to arbitrary interference with privacy …

  3. UNESCO and the Information Highway:The Balance Between Control and Access • The Web is increasingly important for the exchange of knowledge, information & experience • UNESCO's INFO-ethics Programme stresses the importance of universal access to information in the public domain

  4. UNESCO’S INFO-ethics Programme Encourages international co-operation in promotion of: • the principles of equality, justice and mutual respect in the emerging Information Society • the identification of major ethical issues in the production, access, dissemination, preservation and use of information in the electronic environment • the provision of assistance to Member States in the formulation of strategies and policies on these issues

  5. Ethical Frameworks and User-Enabled choice There are no unified authorities, only multiple stakeholders with complex and contradictory agendas • This decentralized participation results in the individual user adding new content and tools to the system as a whole • The unified operating authority is replaced by a contradictory, and even chaotic form of control • Structural and systemic elements, such as web-filtering systems, represent ‘acknowledged conditions’ to uphold freedom of expression through ‘choice mechanisms’

  6. The Good, the Bad and the Illegal Like other communication technologies, the Internet carries a potentially harmful or illegal content and can be misused as a vehicle for criminal activities • However, there exist a number of different legal regimes at the national and international level to deal with this: • National security – instructions for bomb making, illegal drug production, etc • Protection of minors – violence, pornography, abusive forms of marketing • Protection of human dignity – incitement to racial hatred or racial discrimination

  7. Ethical Considerations } normative orientation and public dialogue • Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have the option to provide users with the choice to control the content delivered to users over the Internet • Rather than retrieving items from the Web, filtering systems are used to selectively restrict access to materials on the Web

  8. Control? • The deployment of content control should be a reflection of individual, community and social policies and preferences • We can use systems which ‘filter out’ Web sites or Web pages that contain material that is objectionable to a community of users • Two principles must be considered: • Communication Principle: The right of communications as a fundamental human right • Free Expression Principle

  9. Codes of Conduct? • The important questions: • Whose strategy? • Whose choice? • During this time of process innovation, codes of conduct, the realities, significance, and consequences of barriers to access, whether publicly or privately created, must be explored

  10. Mechanisms for Realization of these Policies • We feel that a combination of mechanisms is required: • Normative Codes of Conduct developed by UNESCO • Industry self-regulation • Facilitation of end-user choice through technology • Technology by itself is not the solution

  11. A Caveat • By early July 2000 a new Internet model began to evolve – ‘peer-to-peer’ • Peer-to-peer communications takes away the ISP as the middleman. This means that you and I can communicate directly as long as we both have IP addresses and know each other’s address • The importance is that government will not be able to impose filtering at the ISP level

  12. The Problem: the Web • 1 billion documents (April 2000) • Average query is 2 words (e.g., sara name) • Continual explosive growth • Balance global indexing and access and unintentional access to inappropriate material

  13. What were we doing pre-Web? • Channel access • Deny access • Check for age

  14. Internet opens new Channels • E-mail • ftp • telnet • List servers • Bulletin boards • Discussion groups • Chat rooms • Instant messaging • Web pages

  15. Filtering label base Web doc URL lists keywords ratings URLs

  16. What have we got to work with?

  17. Page Filtering Application Types • Client-side: Special purpose browser applications • e.g., SurfMonkey • Server-side: Child friendly portals • e.g.,Yahoo, Lycos • Proxies • Black and white lists • Keyword profiles • Labels

  18. Browser Application: www.surfmonkey.com

  19. Server-Side: Public Portals

  20. Sneaky!!

  21. Proxy level (hidden)

  22. What works well? Nothing

  23. What’s the problem? • Site Labels • Trust • Who does the labels? • Are the labels authentic? • Has the source document changed? • Scale - A billion docs? • Black and White lists • Ditto • Text analysis of page contents • Poor results

  24. Other Filtering Application Types • Authorized Access to Adult material • e.g., Australian plan  credit card proof of age • Anonymity protection • ZeroKnowledge • Non-Http Filters • Email, etc. • Activity Monitors • privacy

  25. On-going Issues to be addressed • Freedom of Expression • Protection of Minors

  26. Summary • A combination of mechanisms is required: • Normative Codes of Conduct developed by UNESCO • Industry self-regulation • Facilitation of end-user choice through technology • End-user must know what is being filtered, when it is being filtered, and why it is being filtered • Technology by itself is not the solution

  27. More Info on Filtering • Industry Canada report • Content Filtering Technologies and Internet Service Providers: Enabling User Choice • http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/internet • European Commission – Info. Society Website • http://www.ispo.cec.be/iap • Web information filtering lab: http://www.cs.dal.ca/wifl • {shepherd | watters}@cs.dal.ca • Marshall.Conley@knowledgehouse.net

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