ETHICS IN INTERNET

I- INTRODUCTION

The new media are powerful tools for education and cultural enrichment, for commercial activity and political participation, for intercultural dialogue and understanding; they also can serve the cause of religion.

Yet media that can be used for the good of persons can be used to exploit, manipulate, dominate, and corrupt.

The Internet is the latest and in many respects most powerful in a line of media. It has enormous consequences.

The Internet is being put to many good uses now, with the promise of many more, but much harm also can be done by its improper use.

"The fundamental ethical principle is: The human person and the human community are the end and measure of the use of the media; communication should be by persons to persons for the integral development of persons".

Use of the new information technology and the Internet needs to be informed and guided by a resolute commitment to the practice of solidarity in the service of the common good, within and among nations.

The spread of the Internet also raises a number of other ethical questions about matters like privacy, the security and confidentiality of data, copyright and intellectual property law, pornography, hate sites, the dissemination of rumor and character assassination under the guise of news, and much else.

II - ABOUT THE INTERNET

The Internet has a number of striking features.

It is instantaneous, immediate, worldwide, decentralized, interactive, endlessly expandable in contents and outreach, flexible and adaptable to a remarkable degree.

It is egalitarian, in the sense that anyone with the necessary equipment and modest technical skill can be an active presence in cyberspace, declare his or her message to the world, and demand a hearing.

It allows individuals to indulge in anonymity, role-playing, and fantasizing and also to enter into community with others and engage in sharing.

According to users' tastes, it lends itself equally well to active participation and to passive absorption into "a narcissistic, self-referential world of stimuli with near-narcotic effects".

It can be used to break down the isolation of individuals and groups or to deepen it.

Radical individualists and entrepreneurs want the Internet to be a place for very nearly every kind of expression, no matter how vile and destructive and to be a vehicle of untrammeled commercial activity.

When based upon shared values rooted in the nature of the person, the intercultural dialogue made possible by the Internet and other media of communication can be "a privileged means for building the civilization of love".

III SOME AREAS OF CONCERN

A number of concerns about the Internet are implicit in what has been said so far.

One is called the digital divide - a form of discrimination dividing the rich from the poor, both within and among nations, on the basis of access, or lack of access, to the new information technology.

Cyberspace ought to be a resource of comprehensive information and services available to all, and in a wide range of languages. Public institutions have a particular responsibility to establish and maintain sites of this kind.

As the new global economy takes shape, the Church is concerned "that the winner in this process will be humanity as a whole" and not just "a wealthy elite that controls science, technology and the planet's resources".

Causes and consequences of the divide are not only economic but also technical, social, and cultural. So, for example, another Internet ‘divide’ operates to the disadvantage of women, and it, too, needs to be closed.

The question of freedom of expression on the Internet is very complex and gives rise to another set of concerns.

We strongly support freedom of expression and the free exchange of ideas. Freedom to seek and know the truth is a fundamental human right, and freedom of expression is a cornerstone of democracy.

We deplore attempts by public authorities to block access to information because they find it threatening or embarrassing to them, to manipulate the public by propaganda and disinformation, or to impede legitimate freedom of expression and opinion.

The sheer overwhelming quantity of information on the Internet, much of it unevaluated as to accuracy and relevance, is a problem for many.

Standing alongside issues that have to do with freedom of expression, the integrity and accuracy of news, and the sharing of ideas and information, is another set of concerns generated by libertarianism.

IV RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION

The virtue of solidarity is the measure of the Internet's service of the common good. It is the common good that supplies the context for considering the ethical question: "Are the media being used for good or evil?"

Those whose decisions and actions contribute to shaping the structure and contents of the Internet have an especially serious duty to practice solidarity in the service of the common good.

Prior censorship by government should be avoided; "censorship...should only be used in the very last extremity". But the Internet is no more exempt than other media from reasonable laws against hate speech, libel, fraud, child pornography and pornography in general, and other offenses.

Criminal behavior in other contexts is criminal behavior in cyberspace, and the civil authorities have a duty and a right to enforce such laws.

New regulations also may be needed to deal with special ‘‘Internet' crimes like the dissemination of computer viruses, the theft of personal data stored on hard disks, and the like.

Regulation of the Internet is desirable, and in principle industry self-regulation is best. Industry codes of ethics can play a useful role, provided they are seriously intended, involve representatives of the public in their formulation and enforcement, and carry appropriate penalties for violations, including public

The Internet's transnational, boundary-bridging character and its role in globalization require international cooperation in setting standards and establishing mechanisms to promote and protect the international common good.

Many difficult Internet-related questions call for international consensus. In particular, the question of how to close the digital divide between the information rich and the information poor requires urgent attention in its technical, educational, and cultural aspects.

The Catholic Church, along with other religious bodies, should have a visible, active presence on the Internet and be a partner in the public dialogue about its development. "The Church does not presume to dictate these decisions and choices, but it does seek to be of help by indicating ethical and moral criteria which are relevant to the process——criteria which are to be found in both human and Christian values".

The Internet can make an enormously valuable contribution to human life. It can foster prosperity and peace, intellectual and aesthetic growth, mutual understanding among peoples and nations on a global scale.

It also can help men and women in their age-old search for self-understanding. In every age, including our own, people ask the same fundamental questions: "Who am I? Where have I come from and where am I going? Why is there evil? What is there after this life?" The Church cannot impose answers, but she can——and must——proclaim to the world the answers she has received; and today, as always, she offers the one ultimately satisfying answer to the deepest questions of life——Jesus Christ, who "fully reveals man to himself and brings to light his most high calling".

Like today's world itself, the world of media, including the Internet, has been brought by Christ, inchoately yet truly, within the boundaries of the kingdom of God and placed in service to the word of salvation. Yet "far from diminishing our concern to develop this earth, the expectancy of a new earth should spur us on, for it is here that the body of a new human family grows, foreshadowing in some way the age which is to come".