Once social networks became a part of the life of millions of people all over the world, issues concerning privacy, credibility of information, as well as the accountability have appeared. It is important for users, firms and policy makers to grasp these issues.
This is because people’s information is harvested and passed around without their permission. People should know what is digital footprint and the outcome of sharing information on the Internet. For this reason, social media firms have a moral duty of ensuring the protection of users’ data and being as transparent as possible on use of this data. It is thus important that strong measures are put in place to protect the privacy of users in order to gain their trust.
Another ethical issue to be discussed is the issue of fake news This is a social evil that has been on the rise and has the ability to spread fake information that may result to a lot of harm including political results and health. Instagram, Twitter, and other social networks should be more responsible for the dissemination of false information and should strengthen the measures with regard to moderation of content and support factual check initiatives. It is also important to encourage user on critical thinking and media literacy to help decrease the contribution of fake news.
This paper has identified that accountability is key in the social media environment. The companies should be held responsible for the content being posted on the platforms and ensure that any content that is deemed to be harmful or unlawful is addressed. Also, users should also be aware of their role to protect the ethical use of social media and to report any content that is unethical and engage in meaningful discourses.
Thus, the solution to the ethicality issue in the sphere of social networks cannot be provided by any of the parties but by all of them, individual, corporate, and state. Hence, by emphasizing on privacy, countering fake news and encouraging accountability it is possible to create a better world where people will use the Internet responsibly.