3.
4 Text Messaging
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Transforming Lives in Developing
Countries
• M-PESA in Kenya
– Save money
– Pay bills
– Transfer funds
• Communicate information about crop
prices
• Protect against counterfeit ( )جعلیmedicine
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Twitter
• Web-based social networking service
• More than 200 million users
• Blogging tool (A blog is a type of regularly updated website that
provides insight into a certain topic)
• Business promotion
• Role in Arab Spring uprisings debated
– (+) Social networks lead to politicization
– (-) Ties in social networks too weak for high-risk
activism
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3.5 Censorship
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Forms of Direct Censorship
• Government monopolization (Monopolization is the
complete control of something)
• Prepublication review
• Licensing and registration
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Self-censorship
• Most common form of censorship
• Group decides for itself not to publish
• Reasons
– Avoid subsequent persecution ()ظلم و ستم
– Maintain good relations with government officials
(sources of information)
• Ratings systems created to advise potential
audience
– Movies, TVs, CDs, video games
– Not the Web
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Challenges Posed by the Internet
• Many-to-many communications
• Dynamic connections
• Huge numbers of Web sites
• Extends beyond national borders, laws
• Hard to distinguish between minors and
adults
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Governmental Filtering and Surveillance (close
observation of a person or group by the police or other authorities.)
• Cuba, North Korea: Internet virtually inaccessible
• Saudi Arabia: centralized control center
• People’s Republic of China:
– Blocks Internet access at times of social unrest ()سماجی بدامنی
– Has “one of most sophisticated filtering systems in the world”
• Germany: Forbids access to neo-Nazi sites
• United States: Have been repeated efforts to limit access
of minors to pornography
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Ethical Perspectives on Censorship
• Kant opposed censorship
– Enlightenment thinker (The Enlightenment (Age of Reason) was
a revolution in thought in Europe and North America from the late
17th century to the late 18th century)
– “Have courage to use your own reason”
• Mill opposed censorship
– No one is infallible (incapable of making mistakes or being
wrong:)
– Any opinion may contain a kernel of truth
– Truth revealed in class of ideas
– Ideas resulting from discourse (written or spoken
communication)are more influential
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Mill’s Principle of Harm
“The only ground on which intervention ()مداخلت
is justified is to prevent harm to others;
the individual’s own good is not a
sufficient condition.”
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3.6 Freedom of Expression
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Freedom of Expression: History
• De Scandalis Magnatum (England, 1275)
• Court of Star Chamber
• 18th century
– No prior restraints (check) on publication
– People could be punished for sedition or libel
(speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state)
• American states adopted bills of rights
including freedom of expression
• Freedom of expression in 1st amendment to
U.S. Constitution
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1st Amendment to U.S. Constitution
Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion, or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof; or abridging the
freedom of speech, or of the press; or the
right of the people peaceably to assemble,
and to petition the government for a
redress of grievances.
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Freedom of Expression
Not an Absolute Right
• 1st Amendment covers political and
nonpolitical speech
• Right to freedom of expression must be
balanced against the public good
• Various restrictions on freedom of
expression exist
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Jeremy Jaynes
AP Photo/Loudoun County Sheriff’s office 1-15
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FCC v. Pacifica Foundation et al.
• George Carlin records “Filthy Words”
• WBAI in New York airs “Filthy Words” (1973)
• FCC issues declaratory order to Pacifica
• Pacifica sues
• U.S. Supreme Court ruled FCC did not violate 1 st
Amendment (5-4 decision)
– Broadcast media “uniquely pervasive”
– Broadcasting uniquely accessible to children
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Case Study: Kate’s Blog
• Kate: Maintains a popular “life on campus” blog
• Jerry: Another student; active in Whig Party
• At private birthday party, someone gives Jerry a Tory
Party T-shirt as a gag, and Jerry puts it on
• Kate uses cell phone to take picture of Jerry when he
isn’t looking, posts it on her blog
• Story read by many people on and off campus
• Jerry confronts Kate and demands she remove photo;
she complies, and they remain friends
• Kate’s blog and Jerry both become more popular
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Kantian Analysis
• Kate uploaded Jerry’s photo to her blog
without asking his permission
• She treated him as a means to her end of
increasing the readership of her Web site
• Her action was wrong
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Social Contract Theory Analysis
• Birthday party held in apartment of one of
Jerry’s friends
• Jerry had a reasonable expectation of
privacy
• Kate violated Jerry’s right to privacy
• Kate’s action was wrong
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Act Utilitarian Analysis
• Benefits
– Popularity of Kate’s blog increased (definitely)
– Jerry become more popular on campus (definitely)
• Harms
– Jerry’s anger at Kate (only temporary)
– Photo could discredit Jerry at some point in future
(unlikely)
• Benefits greater than harms, so Kate did a good
thing
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Rule Utilitarian Analysis
• What if everyone were constantly taking photos of people
they encountered and posting them?
• Positive consequences
– People would have more opportunities to keep up with what their
friends are doing
– People might be more reluctant to engage in illegal activities
• Negative consequences
– People would become more self-conscious
– Some relationships would be harmed
• Negative consequences more weighty than positive
consequences, so Kate’s action was bad
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