On this coming thursday, Nicole and I will present you the topic- Virtual Ethics.
We will focus on the first essential reading "Cyberstalking: Gender and computer ethics" written by Alison Adam.
*Just to give you a very brief introduction that this chapter concentrates on how feminist ethics can be used to apply in computer ethics problems through examples of "cyberstalking".
And here is the schedule of our presentation (it approximately takes 12-15 minutes) :
1. Introduction (Sue)
2. Feminist ethics and feminist theory (Sue)
3. Cyberstalking and with its examples (Sue)
4. Analysis of cyberstalking examples using feminist ethics (Nicole)
5. Conclusion (Nicole)
6. Discussion (Nicole)
Nicole and Sue
____________________________________________________________
- Discussion:
- Do you agree cyberstalking is an accident not a ethic problem?
- Is female status different in the network and real life? What will you suggest to resolve the currently computer ethics?
- Are technologies good? On one hand, it gives great opportunities for people to attack the others; on the other hand, it is as one of the powerful tool to trace down the perpetrator.
The above is the questions we have discussed today.
Please feel free to leave Nicole and me comments or feedbacks; we are glad to discuss the topic Virtual Ethics with all of you :)
By the way, thank you for particapting actively towards our pesentation. (CLAP)
Hello Sue and Nicole,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the presentation yesterday and it is nice to have discussion here =]
I would like to ask questions about computer ethnics, issues on private space and public space.
Thinking back about the incident of Edison Chen’s sex photos with other female celebrities, those photos were meant to be private, but because the guy who fixed Edison’s laptop allegedly published them on the internet, people know the secrets between these celebrities and as consequence, these secrets has become scandals for the stars. It is true that everyone has their private time of sex and intimacy including public figures and everyone should respect one’s privacy. In Edison’s case, there were controversies about the sex photos as privacy/indecency (something that is not good for young people to learn). However, I think that celebrities and public figures are role models for the public and they should behave properly. It is true that the moment we upload things online, it is publicised and no longer private. So…
1. Apart from education, is there a way to stop the spread of someone’s privacies in the internet?
2. What is the role of celebrities if such private times/indecency challenges the fact of being the ideal role model for young people?
Hi Wilson,
ReplyDeleteThanks for raising us some interesting questions.
Indeed, everyone can enjoy their private time of sex or so to take intimate photos with his/her partner. But people, especially celebrities, should have cautioned about the Internet. As what we have discussed, there is actually no privacy in the virtual world (even people just save their own personal information in their hard disk). Recently, there are several Encryptions programs, perhaps help prevent disclosure of users’ information, namely not easily hacked by the others). However, in the age of Internet or technology, we are guaranteed nothing. Still, there are others programs invented to decipher the fragile firewall no matter how we have carefully built. And it backs to the question no.3 again- Are technologies good?
Regarding Edison’s case, I do think the main reason why this incident aroused much discussion in Hong Kong is because of the inconsistent image the "victims" have processed. Yet, I believe, nowadays young people are comparatively open-minded than the old generation. They perhaps feel alright or even show their understanding for the celebrities only if they do generously admit the fact. Or some may question why the celebrities have to confess their private lives to the public, yet, it is cruel to tell that this is part of their job which they are fated to live under the spotlight.
Wilson, I have tried my very best to make a meaningful discussion. Hopefully, I have shared you with some meaningful points LOL
And for the others, please don’t hesitate to leave Nicole and me feedbacks or comments. :)
Sometimes I'm a bit confused about the definition of "cyberstalking". Does it refer to any harrassment happening on the Internet world? I'm wondering if the case of "Kong Nui"(Hong Kong Girls) incident can be an example of this. Still remember the origin of the negative term "Kong Nui"? It's all about a group of users on the HKGolden forum started complaining about the common negative attributes of Hong Kong girls, such as being narcissistic and worshipping money, etc. These forum users particularly used hostile words to criticize Hong Kong women. Can this be an example of cyberstalking being involved in gender problem, as refered to your first discussion question? Please correct me if I've got sth mixed up.
ReplyDeleteAnother example comes to my mind is the recent phenomenon of "human flesh search engine" in both HK and mainland China. Once a person has done something injustice to another person, Internet users soon start to do searching and disclose the personal information of the injustice doer. They then criticize this person openly. As this kind of cyberstalking is based on massive human collaboration, serious harrassment is often involved. It is undoubted that most of the original intention of these cases is good- to fight for justice or to fight against some arrogant bigwigs. Technology helps promote this atmosphere to certain extent. However, more questions pop out- Why must the private information of troublemakers to be disclosed publicly in order to vent their anger? Who should have the rights to diclose other people's personal information? Just by social "norms" or what? Maybe these are the negative impacts brought about by innovative technology. What do you all think about this?
Dear all,it is actually a hot topic even though that incident has already been few years ago. And this also reflects the repsonsibility of celebritries being educators in the cyberworld.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I would like to share with all of besides Edison, have you thought of others like Gillian?
It is true that those photos and celebrities are certainly giving bad examples to the public, especially the teenagers. But the fact is that, different people have recieved different responses.
Let me further elaborate this. We all know that Edison and Gillian are the two main characters (Of course, as the media shows, there are others). At first, the public thought that both of them were evil and bad. How about now? Gillian is 'treated' better by the public.
We know Gillian is a group member of twins. After the incident, Gillian did 'disappear' for a period of time. However, she has successfully come back these days. Though her fame may not be as much as she had before, it goes without saying that her image of being a 'photo model' has been blurred. Her coming back shows that the public may, to a certain extent, forgive her.
How about Edison? He was, if not more famous than, as famous as Gillian. However, after the incident, he did not only 'disappear' for a period of time, he also did not show his retuen as what Gillian had done. In my opinion, Edison is a 'less' celebrity than Gillian.
This comes to a question in my mind. From the case of the 'sex photos', Does it apply some gendered issues? It seems that a female is more likely to be forgiven in an area about sex? While male, on the other hand, could not be treated on an equal basis?
This makes me think that not only the social ethics is gendered, the consequences and the resulted is also gendered. Hope my question can raise more discussions here!
Hi Alice,
ReplyDeleteCyberstalking is simply referred to use Internet or other electronic means to stalk someone. According to Worldpress.com., cyberstalking can be “threatening or harassing email, online verbal abuse, mass unsolicited email, identity theft, leaving improper messages at or newsgroups from you, initiating directed computer viruses, pedophile activity, or email forgery”. (http://mirandarights.wordpress.com/2009/12/15/cyberstalking/)
Yet, I am wondering if the “Hong Nui” incident can be seen as an example of cyberstalking. Since people/internet users just seen forum as a platform to discuss nowadays the general characteristics of Hong Kong girls unless someone maliciously post one’s information and hence intentionally induce real life stalking behavior while “human flesh search engine “ (Canton-English style XD) could be seen as the example of cyberstalking.
Regarding your questions, perhaps as what Franco had mentioned, the perpetrator may not see the so-called private personal information that “private” since these are the information you and me willingly posted publicly. Do you get what I mean?
For me, I do think technologies are ideally good but are practically harmful. For sure, this would be perfect if we “correctly” use technologies. Yet, as I have also mentioned that day, everyone has different definition towards the so-called “correctness”. And therefore there are much discussions or problems in the cyberspace and we hence talk about the computer ethics. (Do I end up a HEA conclusion, sorry that I am always that HEA XDDD)
Hi, Gordon,
ReplyDeleteI cannot agree anymore that the Edison’s case was a gendered issue. After the incident, Gillian and another “victim” Cecilia Cheung are comparatively accepted by the public. They have been given a lot of chances in terms of recording, filming etc. Besides, the public seemingly appreciate their courage to admit the scandal in front of the public; while people still regard Edison as a “bad guy”. However, he is also the victim whose privacy had been invaded. Indeed, there is obviously a gender-discrimination.
Perhaps, once we understand the feminist ethics which mainly involves the nature of men/women relationships, we can think of some solutions not only for the power inequalities in cyberspace but also in the physical world.
Thanks for raising us such a good discussion question. =)
It is necessary for every parent to learn what is cyberstalking its impact on your child and how to protect him/her from Cyber harassement
ReplyDelete