Digital Ethics

Overview

This module introduces key concepts in digital ethics and their impact on communication practice. Students will explore the structure of digital media, apply ethical frameworks like Bowen’s 15 principles to real-world cases, and evaluate issues such as data tracking, cookies, and data brokerage. Through practical exercises, learners will assess cyberethics statements and end-user license agreements, developing the skills to make responsible, transparent, and ethical decisions in digital public relations.

Presentation Files

Lesson 1:

Learning Objectives

• Students will explain the two components of digital media and identify examples.
• Students will apply Bowen’s 15 ethical principles to recent case studies.
• Students will make recommendations to improve cyberethics statements.
  

Key Concepts

Digital media, cyberethics statements, privacy, social media platforms, misinformation

Lesson Plan

Why Digital Ethics?

• Start with ethics example of facial recognition technology (consider this Yahoo video about common retailers using the technology)
• Ask students about how they feel towards facial recognition technology- ask about how they think others (name specific audience types- Baby Boomers, Black Americans, Silicon Valley employees) feel about it?
• Look at Fight for the Future and Ban Facial Recognition to look at how activists protest retailers

Defining Digital Media

• Define digital media—Digital media is defined as a platform, site or space of multi-directional, instantaneous communication (Edwards & Pieczka, 2013)
• Provide examples of digital media—Social, mobile and electronic forms of communication common to student lives o Explain why digital media is critical to public relations
• Ask for examples of companies who manage a digital brand or presence well

Ethical Guidelines for Social Media Platforms

• Consider sharing this article about the harm of misinformation on social media: https://msutoday.msu.edu/news/2022/msu-expert-covid-19-misinformation-on-social-media-a-public-health-concern
• Ask students to identify examples of misinformation on their own social media accounts (perhaps friends that are sharing it with them)

15 Ethical Guidelines for Digital Public Relations

• Introduce the 15 ethical principles from Bowen (2013)
• Define and provide an example of each of the 15: be fair and prudent, avoid deception, maintain dignity and respect, eschew secrecy, is it reversible(?), be transparent, clearly identify, rational analysis, emphasize clarity, disclose, verify sources and data, establish responsibility, examine intention, encourage the good, and consistency builds trust.

Cyberethics Statements

• Explain why companies publish statements on digital ethics (aka: cyberethics statements)
• Encourage students to look at the cyberethics statements of their own favorite brands or organizations
• Ask students to draft a cyberethics statement for their university

Lesson 2:

Learning Objectives

• Students will be able to explain the role of cookies and other tracking software in public relations.
• Students can apply the data brokerage process to examples of their own digital use.
• Students assess end-user license agreements for their clarity and purpose.

Key Concepts

Cookies, data brokerage, big data, artificial intelligence, end-user license agreements

Lesson Plan

Digital Tools

• Introduce “cookies” and “tracking” with definitions.
• Possible activity: ask students to open a social networking site and identify the first promoted post or ad they see. Class discussion on why that ad was selected for them.

Introduce the Four Sources of Anxiety with Digital Tools

• Class discussion on what organizations can do to help relieve these anxieties- ask for examples of organizations that use tracking and what (if anything) they do to relieve these anxieties

Data Privacy

• Have students skim the database of data breaches (https://privacyrights.org/data...) and identify any that might relate to their data (most likely retailers in their area). Ask students about what type of data they expect that retailer has collected from them. If they were a customer of SHEIN, would they feel that the penalty was strong enough based on that data breach?

Ethics and Tracking

• Possible activity: Ask students to identify any health-related apps or programs that they use. Look at the end-user license agreements to determine if they are allowed to sell that data. Which of Bowen’s 15 ethical guidelines does this violate and uphold?

AI in the Auto Industry

• Possible activity: Ask students to assess the public opinion of companies like Tesla and the autopilot features. Do their findings support the conclusions of the video (that the public overestimates the ability of AI in cars and simultaneously fears these technologies)?

Module Developer