INFORMATION ETHICS IN THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY

Paul Sturges

A Paradigm Shift?

• Library and Information Science (LIS) has been a predominantly technical subject for centuries

• In the Twenty First Century there are strong signs that ethical values have become central

• This suggestion is probably unprovable, but a sampling of professional activity can be offered to support the idea

The Domain of Information Ethics

• The ethics of LIS are only a subset of a broader Information Ethics including– Media and Press Ethics– Computer and Internet Ethics– Ethics of (information aspects of) Governance and

Business• All of these touch on issues including

– Intellectual Freedom– Privacy and Information Security– Intellectual Property– Equitable Access to Information– Governance of the Internet.

A Sampling of Information Ethics Discourse

• This presentation will sample – Formal Documentation (Codes, Manifestos

and Charters)– The Literature (including web content)– Conferences, Education and Training

• It will then explore an unexpected area into which a personal involvement with Information Ethics has led.

Codes, Manifestos and Charters

• Codes of Ethics from Media, Computing and other fields deal with access to information in different ways

• Some (LIS and journalism) stress freedom of access,

• Others (Computing, Business Management or Competitive Intelligence) stress ownership and security.

• National Codes (those for LIS for example) reflect their national cultures in the way they deal with information issues.

Other Information Policy Documentation

• Declarations, Charters and Manifestos appear increasingly often.

• IFLA, through its FAIFE core activity, has recently adopted a

• Manifesto on Transparency, Good Governance, and Freedom from Corruption

• This reflects the idea that corruption will not flourish where information transparency prevails, and libraries can promote transparency.

The Literature

• Beginning in the 1970s but increasing towards the present decade, the literature of Information Ethics has expanded.

• Articles appear across the general journals for LIS and other relevant disciplines, and in specialist journals like Journal of Information Ethics

• There is little monograph literature, but good numbers of textbooks.

Web Content

• At least two specialist websites can be identified:– International Center for Information Ethics at

http://icie.zkm.de • An academic website• Includes news, lists of publications and is linked to a book

series and an electronic journal

– CILIP Information Ethics at www.infoethics.org.uk • Includes wide range of resources for professionals• Over 40 case studies in Information Ethics.

Conferences

• LIDA 2001 had a sub-theme on– Internet: Ethics and Legal Issues

• There are regular specialist conferences– UNESCO INFOethics conferences 1997,

1998, 2000 and others.– ETHICOMP and CEPE, concentrating on

computer ethics.– Ethics of Electronic Information in the 21st

Century, at the University of Memphis

Education

• The presence of Information Ethics in curricula is widespread and increasing

• It is hard to track because of the titles of modules, but

• Various Universities in Europe and North America do specialise, for instance– University of Pittsburgh– University of Wisconsin Milwaukee– University of Alberta (Canada)– Loughborough University

Training

• Information Ethics training programmes are offered by – Professional organisations such as national

Library Associations– Training Consultancies

• IFLA, through its FAIFE core activity, has a programme of Workshops (which will include Transparency Workshops, based on the new Manifesto, in 2009).

Some personal experiences:Starting with the Danish Cartoons

• September 2005 Jyllands Posten published cartoons that proved offensive to Muslims

• Public demonstrations followed, with loss of life and destruction of property

• The demonstrators called for suppression of such material

• Defenders of the newspaper cited freedom of expression

Freedom of Expression is not universally accepted

• Christians oppose Jerry Springer: the Opera• Sikhs protest against Behzti a play put on in the UK• Sylheti Bangladeshis claim Monica Ali’s book Brick Lane

insults them • ‘If she has the right to freedom of speech, we have the

right to burn books. We are protecting our community’s dignity and respect’

• By talking of books this reminds us that libraries hold and make available much controversial and potentially offensive content.

The Brick Lane Protest

Can we accept limits to Freedom of Expression?

• Answers to this question can be found by looking at statements on human rights.

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights does recognise limits such as– National security– Prevention of disorder or crime– Protection of health and morals

• It also speaks of duties to the community

Is avoiding offence a genuine limitation?

• Opponents of the disputed cartoons, plays, books say that unacceptable offence has been given

• Defenders say that satire is protected as freedom of expression

• They add that avoiding offence leads to self censorship

• The discussion tends to be deadlocked• The literature of jurisprudence offers some

answers to the question of offence.

Feinberg’s Offence Principle

• Feinberg’s Principle allows assessment of offence on aspects such as– Motives of the speaker– Community interests– Whether the material is widely or narrowly

available

• Although intended for the legal system, it can guide the exercise of free expression

Thinking about the audience

• Feinberg’s Principle encourages thinking about the audience that is being addressed

• Most importantly, is there a difference between – Satire directed at those in power – Similar comment that might offend whole communities

and sectors of society?

• Could the latter be ‘hate speech’ and thus unacceptable?

Decorum

• Use of something like Feinberg’s Principle can be found in practice

• Writers on comedy identify a principle of ‘decorum’ that moderates what comedians say and do

• It is based on appropriateness for setting and theme

• It involves the implicit ‘permission’ of an audience for satire

How is decorum exercised?

• One way to assess the exercise of decorum is to go to a lot of comedy gigs

• As a regular audience member at the Derby Funhouse Comedy Club this was no problem

• Would comedians also be prepared to talk about their comedy in terms of ‘limits’?

• Spiky Mike (promoter and compere) gave me access to the comedians and they talked willing and well.

What did the comedians say?

• At first, stand-up comedians in England find it hard to think in terms of limitations.

• Their audience is young, unconcerned with taboos, and used to open speech.

• However, on consideration, comedians identify one or two areas (most commonly race) which they avoid, or treat with decorum

• Everything else (sex, bodily functions, politics, religion, etc) they treat with near total freedom.

Comedians as guides to behaviour?

• If even stand up comedians exercise restraint in difficult areas, this gives messages to librarians.

• Some caution and respect for the audience (readers) is normal practice.

• The danger is that this might become a rationale for librarians doing the work of censors.

• Explorations in information ethics do not provide easy answers

• But they can be surprising and exciting if we let ourselves look beyond accepted domain borders and traditional thinking.