Ethics of social networks for special needs users

Abstract

This special issue complements and extends the conversations held at a workshop on cyber-bullying in the teenager populations organised by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission in the fall of 2012. In this workshop several worlwide experts contributed to a discussion on the ethical, legal and governance issues related to the cyber-bullying phenomenon. Millions of persons around the world are regular users of social networking sites. Their number is still on the rise, despite indications that there are people dropping out of the most popular sites. While their social and political functions are widely recognised, online social networking practices are also enhancing or creating new problems with regard to the rights, needs and interests of vulnerable citizens, such as children, women in many cases, the elderly, persons with disabilities, as well as citizens in precarious social or economical situations (e.g. unemployed). These categories represent what we here call ‘‘special needs users’’, i.e. people with often limited legal capacity, their social networking practices raising specific challenges for which care and different types of solidarity are key. Hence, many of the discussions about understanding, supporting or helping ‘‘special needs users’’ with the use of Social Networks (SN) revolve around arguments that include e-inclusion, accessibility to social networks, protection from harm and exploitation, and, in order to accommodate these users’ special needs, strategies to support their social emancipation and political participation, as well as to encourage solidarity and partnerships among them and with the wider society. This special issue invited submissions of original research exploring the interplay between Ethics, on-line social networks, and special needs users. Social sciences and Interdisciplinary studies have seen an increasing number of papers related to Facebook, Google ?, LinkedIn, etc., but most of the literature reflecting on ethical questions associated with these technologies focuses on considerations about individuals’ privacy. In this special edition, we wanted to explore a broader range of ethical issues raised by SN, with a specific focus on ‘‘special needs users’’, for example, dignity, agency, equality, autonomy and freedom, and usability. The five papers in this special issue attempt to respond to our original question: ‘‘what are the specific ethical considerations that need to be addressed in the design, deployment and governance of social networks use by special needs persons?’’ They address ethical issues related to, for instance, autonomy, responsibility, agency, trust, as well as privacy, dealing with issues such as minimum age and protection of minors, youth development, cyber-bullying and cyber-violence arising from SN usage amongst children/teenagers or against women, e-inclusion and solidarities arising from social network usage. In this issue, the focus of the five papers is mostly on youth but Philip Effiom Ephraim alludes also to gender The opinions on this paper are those of the authors and cannot be considered as official positions of the European Commission.