#digital-ethics — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #digital-ethics, aggregated by home.social.
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Meta is settling for up to $16.68 billion over claims it built Facebook and Instagram to be addictive for teens — not as a side effect, but by design. This isn't a fine for a mistake. It's a bill for a business model. For years, "engagement" was the north star metric in tech. Growth at any cost. More time-on-app = more revenue.
#technews #metalcore #startuplessons #brandtrust #digitalethics #productdesign #growthmarketing #techregulation #startupmac #foundermindset
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ICYMI: Always-sycophantic chatbots deluded 50% of simulated users, MIT model finds: Restricting chatbots to true statements reduced delusional spiraling without ending it, and warned users stayed vulnerable at sycophancy rates of 10% to 50%. https://ppc.land/always-sycophantic-chatbots-deluded-50-of-simulated-users-mit-model-finds/ #Chatbots #ArtificialIntelligence #MachineLearning #Technology #DigitalEthics
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Aaron Swartz was prosecuted for scraping, while Meta does it without consequence
Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49379550
#HackerNews #AaronSwartz #MetaScraping #JusticeForAll #DigitalEthics #TechDisparity
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I recently encountered smart glasses in real life for the first time. I didn't even realise the person was wearing them until they showed me what they could do.
It left me with a difficult question: Would I ask someone to take off their smart glasses before coming into my home for dinner?
I think I would.
Some thoughts on smart glasses, consent, privacy and the right to silence: https://www.martinkubler.com/smart-glasses-consent/
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How companies use anti-Big Tech rhetoric to attract users and gain trust
#BigTech #Privacy #Tech #OpenSource #CyberSecurity #DigitalEthics #TechTalk #TechTrends #MarketingTechhttps://gadgetflux.eu/cum-folosesc-companiile-retorica-anti-big-tech/
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Yes. That’s exactly the contradiction I’m interested in.
People will make careful ethical choices about food, energy, labour, politics and climate, then hand their attention, relationships, personal data, and children to Meta every day as though that somehow doesn’t count.
I’m not asking for purity.
I’m asking why this particular compromise has become almost invisible.
#Meta #Facebook #SocialMedia #OpenWeb #DigitalEthics #Fediverse
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Disinformation: it's an orchestra! Strategic deceptions amplified by social media algorithms can push narratives in all sorts of directions. Find out how our tools target disinformation: https://techethics.co.uk/solutions/veritas
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The Less you share about your personal life online, the More peaceful your life will be.
#opinion #quote #truth #socialmedia #SocialWeb #tech #technology #Digital #privacy #advice #online #digitalhygiene #digitalethics
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Digital ethics: it’s about more than just algorithms. It’s about ensuring fairness, transparency, and accountability in the data we use. Read the article in the comments
#digitalethics #techethics #ethicalai #AIethics #ai #technology #policy #fiarness
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Is This Chaos Accidental?
By Cliff Potts, CSO, and Editor-in-Chief of WPS News
Baybay City, Leyte, Philippines — July 18, 2026
Asking the Uncomfortable Question
At some point, prolonged disorder stops looking like incompetence and starts looking like intent.
That is the question this essay confronts, cautiously but directly: is TikTok’s chaos simply the result of scale and poor governance, or is it the byproduct of a deeper internal philosophy that treats user confusion as a feature rather than a flaw?
This is not an accusation. It is an analytical question that arises naturally when systems behave consistently badly over time.
Chaos, Consistently Applied
TikTok’s terms of service and community guidelines exist on paper. In practice, they behave more like suggestions than rules.
Enforcement is:
- Inconsistent across regions
- Opaque to users
- Poorly explained when action is taken
- Largely immune to appeal
The result is not merely frustration. It is disorientation. Users do not learn what behavior is acceptable. They learn only that outcomes are unpredictable.
That unpredictability has persisted long enough to raise a serious question: what if that confusion is the point?
Ridicule as a Systemic Byproduct
One possible interpretation — uncomfortable but increasingly difficult to dismiss — is that the platform’s internal culture may be quietly contemptuous of how the general public uses social media.
Not hostile. Not openly adversarial. Simply dismissive.
Under this interpretation, chaos functions as a kind of ridicule. Users are trained to dance for visibility, guess at invisible rules, and accept penalties without explanation. The more people scramble, the more engagement is generated. The more engagement is generated, the more the system is justified internally.
From the inside, this may look clever. From the outside, it looks exploitative.
The Hacker-Origin Hypothesis
There is another question that follows naturally from this pattern.
Is it possible that TikTok’s architecture reflects the mindset of a hacker collective that successfully monetized its skills — building a legitimate revenue machine while retaining an internal culture that delights in gaming, destabilizing, and outmaneuvering its own users?
Again, this is not an allegation. It is a hypothesis prompted by behavior.
Systems reflect the values of the people who design them. When a platform repeatedly privileges confusion over clarity, leverage over trust, and engagement over governance, it is reasonable to ask what worldview shaped those decisions.
Learning From What Others Get Away With
There is also a more mundane explanation, and it is not mutually exclusive.
TikTok may simply be watching what other major platforms have normalized — learning that weak enforcement, vague rules, and performative accountability carry little real consequence.
If regulatory capture and public fatigue allow large platforms to behave this way, the lesson is obvious: if they can do it, so can we.
That logic does not require malice. It only requires indifference to downstream harm.
Why This Question Matters
Whether TikTok’s chaos stems from cultural contempt, inherited norms, or strategic cynicism is ultimately less important than the outcome.
The outcome is the same:
- Users absorb risk without clarity
- Creators operate under constant uncertainty
- Sellers are asked to transact on shifting ground
A platform that ridicules its users — even implicitly — cannot be trusted with commerce, governance, or long-term social influence.
And yet TikTok continues to expand its reach and its ambitions without resolving these foundational contradictions.
Holding the Question Open
This essay does not close the case. It opens it.
Future entries in this series will continue to document behavior, not speculate wildly about motives. But it is important to name the question plainly now, before the evidence piles higher:
Is TikTok’s disorder an accident — or is it an expression of how its architects actually view the people who rely on it?
If that question feels uncomfortable, it should.
For more social commentary and excellent fiction, see Occupy 2.5 at https://Occupy25.com
This essay will be archived to the WPS News Monthly Brief available through Amazon.
#communityGuidelines #digitalEthics #platformGovernance #socialMediaAccountability #termsOfService #TikTok -
Should AI chatbots simulate care for students? Alberta teachers say no
#ArtificialIntelligence #AI #Education #EdTech #Teachers #Students #Canada #Alberta #DigitalEthics #AIEthics #Privacy #ChildSafety #Technology #Schools #Chatbots #AITutors #AILiteracy
https://the-14.com/should-ai-chatbots-simulate-care-for-students-alberta-teachers-say-no/ -
Don't want your Instagram profile used by anyone who wants to generate AI imagery with your likeness? Take action now:
"…to avoid…AI generations of your Instagram posts without switching…to private…Open…Instagram…tap…profile… then tap…3 lines in…top-right corner…Then, scroll down to…Sharing & reuse tab…section labeled Allow people to use your content on Instagram and with AI features on Meta…toggle for Posts &…Reels."
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Investigate and monitor #disinformation with #Veritas! Our AI tool helps organizations visualize connections & take action. #ethicalai #techethics #digitalethics
Track & investigate the signal in the hype! https://techethics.co.uk/solutions/veritas
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AI & Democracy: How can #digitalethics help us cut through the #misinformation? Leveraging machine learning to boost trust in our institutions. #techethics #ethicalai #ethic #technology #disinformation #misinformation
Boost trust with AI! https://techethics.co.uk/solutions/veritas
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AI can boost democracy! 🤖️ Leverage it to personalize voter engagement & fight #misinformation. What’s your favorite #AIinDemocracy trend? #techethics #digitalethics #ai #democracy
Level up democracy with our disinformation insight solution Veritas! https://techethics.co.uk/solutions/veritas
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AI is giving us some good data to chew on when it comes to democracy. at #TechEthics we are keen to break down silos and connect solutions
Read more about our ecosystem: https://techethics.co.uk/solutions/ecosystem
#ai #democracy #aiGovernance #digitalethics #techethics #digitaltools #technology
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The UK Government posted about their...attempt to make things safer online. I posted a...revised version: stuff.davidaugust.com/social-media... #satire #SocialMedia #privacy #DigitalSafety #DigitalEthics #tech #age #safety
Social Media to Be Banned for ... -
The UK Government posted about their...attempt…to make things safer online “for kids.”
I posted a...revised version:
#satire #SocialMedia #privacy #DigitalSafety #DigitalEthics #tech #age #safety
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@theshaunwalker Thank you for posting that, you inspired me to write a... revised version:
#satire #SocialMedia #privacy #DigitalSafety #DigitalEthics #tech #age #safety
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People are using AI to communicate without disclosing it. Is this morally wrong?
#AI #ChatGPT #Ethics #Technology #AIEthics #DigitalEthics #Society #Research #Philosophy #Communication #Trust #Authenticity #GenerativeAI #DigitalLife #Morality #Deception
https://the-14.com/people-are-using-ai-to-communicate-without-disclosing-it-is-this-morally-wrong/ -
AI can enhance our abilities.
But the moment “doing more” becomes the purpose, we stop using the tool and start serving it.Before fearing AI — or worshipping it — we should first understand it.
#AI #ArtificialIntelligence #CriticalThinking #DigitalEthics
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Philosophers Sound Alarm Over Digital Overreach
Philosopher Yuk Hui warns that big tech companies exploit and control people every second. Learn why this matters for your privacy.
#TechControl, #DigitalEthics, #YukHui, #PrivacyMatters, #BigTech
https://newsletter.tf/philosopher-yuk-hui-tech-companies-control-us/
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Philosopher Yuk Hui claims tech companies are controlling us more than ever, using our data to exploit us every second of the day.
#TechControl, #DigitalEthics, #YukHui, #PrivacyMatters, #BigTech
https://newsletter.tf/philosopher-yuk-hui-tech-companies-control-us/ -
Are synthetic outrage and viral certainty the same as truth?
A post feels true because it is everywhere. A claim feels settled because everyone is reacting.
This piece is about that fragile space between attention and conscience, and what happens when we mistake the noise of the crowd for moral clarity.
https://associationredefine.substack.com/p/crowds-without-conscience-jung-digital-crowds?r=6l8ed8
#MediaLiteracy #Misinformation #Disinformation #DigitalDemocracy #SocialMedia #CriticalThinking #SyntheticMedia #AttentionEconomy #DigitalEthics
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Is your AI chatbot manipulating you? Subtly reshaping your opinions?
#AI #ChatGPT #ClaudeAI #GeminiAI #DeepSeek #Tech #Privacy #DigitalEthics #MentalHealth #SocialMedia #BigTech #CyberSecurity #Psychology #AICompanions #OnlineSafety #Ethics #Innovation
https://the-14.com/is-your-ai-chatbot-manipulating-you-subtly-reshaping-your-opinions/