THE CONSCIENCE OF THE INTERNET.pdf

The author argues that the international community should continue working together to devise rules for monitoring specific Internet sites, as human lives are at stake. Preemptive measures could prevent the translation of murderous thoughts into murderous actions. Designated monitoring mechanisms for certain websites that promote violence and seek adherents for the actualization of murderous thoughts could potentially prevent such unfortunate events. The intention is to draw the attention of the international community' multi agents (law-enforcement agencies, governments, the business sector, including Internet Service Providers, websites administrators and owners, civil society groups) to the urgent need of developing monitoring schemes for certain websites, in order to prevent violent crimes.

ISPs and webhosting services are generally exempt from legal liability for the information they disseminate or store. Do they nevertheless have a social responsibility to prevent their services being used for malicious purposes, such as cyber-bullying, cyberstalking, distribution of child pornography and revenge porn, money laundering, and other forms of antisocial behaviour? Do we, as net users, share that responsibility? If so, how do we respond? These are the sorts of questions this book — which announces itself as the first book on social responsibility on the Internet — asks us to confront. The author is currently Chair in Politics, University of Hull, UK. He describes himself on his website as an educator, researcher, and human rights activist. The impact of all these various vocations is visible in this book, which is the fifth one Cohen-Almagor has written that touches in one way or another on the ethical boundaries to free expression and tolerance. This is the first that focuses on the Internet. The author's stated purpose is to identify some of the ethical problems to which the Internet gives rise and to articulate possible approaches to their resolution. This is a thoughtful book that challenges the Internet community (which embraces all of us) to consider how we might control abuse of the Internet; in the author's words, to confront the Internet's dark side. To date, there has been surprisingly little public engagement with this issue. Debate has often involved only a limited range of actors; typically ISPs and social media companies who tend to advocate a libertarian response to all forms of regulation of the net, and civil liberties groups who champion freedom of expression and privacy rights. The wider social interests at stake are often unrepresented in these discussions outside of ad hoc reactions to the latest incident of cyberstalking or other outrages reported in the press. The author believes that there is a need for a wider public discourse. Before embarking on a discussion of the ethical problems presented by the Internet and how to address them, the author acknowledges that the values that underpin modern liberal democracy provide the moral framework for his enquiry and that his prescriptions may not have application outside of societies that do not accept that framework. These values include the right to freedom of expression, tolerance and mutual respect. The author makes clear that he does not accept the view (that he attributes to some in American society in particular) that the right to freedom of expression should take precedence over the rights of society at large. Indeed, one could say that the central tenet of this book is that socially responsible use of the Internet depends upon striking a balance between the right to free speech and the harm that can result from unchecked exercise of that right. The initial chapters of the book are devoted to presentations of the historical framework (describing " milestones in the history of the Internet "), the technological framework (explaining relevant " technological aspects and concepts ") and the theoretical framework (in which the author invokes Aristotle, Kant and Mill and contemporary philosophers to develop notions of legal, moral and social responsibility that inform the later discussion). There is little that is novel in these initial chapters: the history is well known, the technology familiar, and the discussion of philosophical thought does not proceed beyond repetition of a few maxims. The real value of the book lies in what follows. The author discusses, in turn, the particular responsibilities that (in the author's view) attach to (1) users of the Internet, (2) consumers of content (the author refers to them as " readers "), (3) distributors of content (ISPs and webhosting services), and finally (4) states and (5) the international community. The author makes frequent and effective reference to actual events to frame his discussion of the moral questions the Internet presents. These are often disturbing. Take the case of 19-year-old Abraham Briggs of Florida, whose case is referred to as part of the discussion of " readers' responsibilities ". Briggs committed live public suicide over the web by overdosing on pills. Briggs suffered from manic depression and had threatened to commit suicide previously. He posted messages concerning what he said would be his last moments on a website and broadcast his last moments on a web streaming service over a period of many hours before finally overdosing and collapsing. Hundreds of people were watching. The video streamed for several hours before viewers finally called the police, and in the meantime many others had not only neglected to seek help but actively encouraged Briggs in his plan to commit suicide. Moderators apparently did not take him seriously because of unfilled past threats. The author does not shirk from criticism of the readers who watched this tragedy unfold. As

Telecommunications Policy, 2016

ISPs and webhosting services are generally exempt from legal liability for the information they disseminate or store. Do they nevertheless have a social responsibility to prevent their services being used for malicious purposes, such as cyberbullying, cyberstalking, distribution of child pornography and revenge porn, money laundering, and other forms of antisocial behaviour? Do we, as net users, share that responsibility? If so, how do we respond? These are the sorts of questions this book — which announces itself as the first book on social responsibility on the Internet — asks us to confront. The author is currently Chair in Politics, University of Hull, UK. He describes himself on his website as an educator, researcher, and human rights activist. The impact of all these various vocations is visible in this book, which is the fifth one Cohen-Almagor has written that touches in one way or another on the ethical boundaries to free expression and tolerance. This is the first that focuses on the Internet.

In July 2015, my book Confronting the Internet’s Dark Side was published after 9 years of extensive research (Cohen-Almagor 2015). In this forum I explain the reasons for writing this book, its main thesis and its basic structure. I also speak of some of the challenges that I have encountered during my research. It is argued that the present mechanisms to tackle abuse on the Internet are insufficient. We need to evoke awareness and push for greater responsibility of all stakeholders: of people who use the Internet to upload information, of readers who encounter problematic speech on the Net, of Internet Service Providers and Web-hosting companies, of governments and of the international community at large. Only concerted effort of all will facilitate responsible use of the Internet and prevent abuse.

The article is divided to three parts: (1) underpinning principles; (2) troubling concerns on the Internet: terror, child sex offence and hate speech; and (3) exploration of a new paradigm for the future of the Internet called CleaNet©. CleaNet© will be sensitive to prevailing cultural norms of each and every society and will be clean of content that the society deems to be dangerous and antisocial. Netusers, with the co-operation of ISPs and Web-hosting companies, will together decide which content will be considered illegitimate. That content will be excluded from CleaNet©.

This paper reflects on the articles submitted for the Symposium Confronting the Internet's Dark Side. I discuss some of the criticisms of the book's theory and my treatment of hate speech. The responsibilities of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Web-Hosting Services (WHSs) are in the fore, arguing that as they are the gatekeepers, they need to be proactive far more than they are now. This paper, like my book, strives to suggest an approach that harnesses the strengths and capabilities of the public and the private sectors in offering practical solutions to pressing problems.

Raphael Cohen-Almagor, the author of Confronting the Internet’s Dark Side, explains his motivation for exploring the dangerous side of the world wide web. This new book is the first comprehensive book on social responsibility on the Internet.

2015

Book one in the Cyber Library Reference Book series

This article discusses the phenomena of Cyberevenge, sexbullying, and sextortion, especially among young people. The discussion, based on extensive review of books, research reports, newspapers, journal articles and pertinent websites, analyzes these challenges. The article suggests some remedies to counter these online social ills which pertain to promoting responsibility of netcitizens, schools, governments, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and social networking sites.

The availability of electronic devices and the increased use, as well as accessibility to social media, has provided students a new venue for bullying, known as cyberbullying (Ang, 2015). While several researchers have examined students’, preservice and high school teachers’ perceptions about cyberbullying, there is a critical gap in the literature regarding middle school teachers’ perceptions. This dissertation is a qualitative case study examining middle school teachers’ knowledge of cyberbullying and cyberbullying events, their attitudes about cyberbullying, and their perceptions about the severity and occurrence in their building. Twelve middle school teachers from a suburban middle school located in central New Jersey participated in semi-structured interviews and a mini-focus group. Data from archival documents and interviews was imported into Dedoose© and was numerically coded, segmented into themes and patterns, then categorized according to themes and patterns that summarized the content. The results indicated teachers perceive cyberbullying is a serious problem but due to the covert nature of cyberbullying, it is difficult for teachers to recognize that it is occurring or to determine the extent of cyberbullying. Finally, teachers expressed having first hand awareness of this issue would help them identify bullies and victims and give them the tools to intervene. Based on these findings, recommendations include finding time for meaningful professional development, training for parents, and providing teachers with recent data, curricular materials, and knowledge about cyberbullying cases in the building. Future research could include a comparative study of the knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes of all three middle schools towards cyberbullying or to include administrators and child study team members from the research site in this study.