The Unethics of Sharing: Wikiwashing
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IRIE International Review of Information Ethics Vol. 15 (09/2011) Mayo Fuster Morell: The Unethics of Sharing: Wikiwashing Abstract: In order for online communities to assemble and grow, some basic infrastructure is necessary that makes possible the aggregation of the collective action. There is a very intimate and complex relationship between the technological infrastructure and the social character of the community which uses it. Today, most infra- structure is provided by corporations and the contrast between community and corporate dynamics is becom- ing increasingly pronounced. But rather than address the issues, the corporations are actively obfuscating it. Wikiwashing refers to a strategy of corporate infrastructure providers where practices associated to their role of profit seeking corporations (such as abusive terms of use, privacy violation, censorship, and use of volun- tary work for profit purposes, among others) that would be seen as unethical by the communities they enable are concealed by promoting a misleading image of themselves associated with the general values of wikis and Wikipedia (such as sharing and collaboration, openness and transparency). The empirical analysis is based on case studies (Facebook , Yahoo! and Google) and triangulation of several methods. Agenda: Wikinomics: The New economy of information access and sharing ............................................................. 10 Wikiwashing ........................................................................................................................................... 10 The “grey and dirty” side of Wikinomics ................................................................................................... 12 The ‘washing’ of unethical practices by media corporations promoting a “wiki” image ................................. 13 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................ 15 Author: Dr. Mayo Fuster Morell: • Institute of Government and Public Policies - Autonomous University of Barcelona. Mòdul de Recerca A. Primera planta. Parc de la Recerca UAB 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain +34 93 586 88 14 • + 34-648877748, [email protected], www.onlinecreation.info • Relevant publications: - Fuster Morell, M. (2011). The Wikimedia Foundation and the Governance of Wikipedia's Infrastructure: Historical Trajectories and its Hybrid Character. In Lovink, G., Tkacz, N. & Roberts, I. (eds). Critical Point of View Reader , Amsterdam: Institute of Network Cultures, 2011. (pp. 325-341). - Fuster Morell, M. (2010). La participazione nella comunità di creazione online. Participazione come eco-sistema. I casi di Openesf.net i Wikipedia. Politica dil dirito. Il Molino nº: 2, September 2010 (Italy). (pp. 515-544). © by IRIE – all rights reserved www.i-r-i-e.net 9 ISSN 1614-1687 IRIE International Review of Information Ethics Vol. 15 (09/2011) Wikinomics: The New economy nate their markets (Tapscot & Williams, 2007). Example of corporations are Facebook (providing of information access and social networking platform), Google (providing sharing search services and YouTube a video-archive), Skype (providing communication services), Twitter The new technologies of information (NTIs), togeth- (providing micro-blogging services), or Yahoo! er with other processes such as the increase in (providing, among other things, Flickr, an image education levels, have greatly extended the poten- repository). tial for access and sharing information, which is resulting in several forms of online collective action. This new economy results in a shift of the business Online creation communities (OCCs) refer to individ- model following the 2001 "dot-com" crisis of the uals that communicate, interact and collaborate, technological industry (O'Reilly, 2005). In the eco- aiming at knowledge-making and sharing. In order nomic model of Wikinomics, the relationship be- for OCCs to take place, it is necessary to have some tween media corporations and their "clients" pos- basic infrastructure that allows the aggregation of sesses certain peculiarities: Individuals become the collective action online. The infrastructure is "users" of the services provided by the media corpo- made up of a number of components: servers, rations, rather than the latter selling fixed products domain names, online platforms (with communica- to “consumers”. In this relationship, media corpora- tion and collaborative authoring tools), among tions depend on the content created by their users others. Infrastructure providers solve those aspects to increase the value of their services. However, for the communities. For example, the Wikimedia users contribute with content depending on their Foundation is the provider of the infrastructure own views and motivations, and the lack of control within which the community of participants who over these important factors (the availability of build up Wikipedia can interact. There are several volunteers to create content) indicates a weakness models of infrastructure provision, which offer in these types of business models. Additionally, it creators different conditions. When OCCs started to renders the reputation of the corporation somewhat emerge, infrastructure providers were closely linked vulnerable. If a community of users sharing content to the community of users and were mission based, becomes the product of the corporation, then the instead of profit based (Fuster Morell, 2010). The corporation is in many ways at the mercy of its entrepreneurial culture and business ideals of raising users. One consequence is that the community of money through innovation with NTI informational users sharing content is more empowered in the products also emerged. Over years, infrastructure face of the corporation. This creates a stimuli en- provision by corporations has increased, constituting couraging ethical practices by the corporations. the new economy of information access and sharing. Corporations therefore make extra effort to maintain their reputation and image and to “gain” the trust of The new economy of information access and shar- their communities of users and the general public. ing, also known as Web 2.0 or Wikinomics, is based However, as the actual practices of the ommercial on the commercialization of information flows and providers do not always conform to this, there is the services provided by media corporations (O'Reilly, incentive of creating “fake” images of the commer- 2005; Tapscott & Williams, 2007). 1 Some of the cial providers in order to gain a reputation, while at platforms provided by corporate hosts bring togeth- the same time developing unethical practices. This is er very large communities of participants and domi- where ‘wikiwashing’ comes into play. Wikiwashing 1 ICTs have gone through several technological generations. The latest ICT tendency is found in the concept of the Web Wikiwashing refers to a set of actions developed by 2.0. The Web 2.0 is generally used to refer to a second gen- eration of ICT-based services, such as social networking sites, corporations that first and foremost offer services wikis, and communication tools that emphasize online collab- for information sharing and collaboration online in oration and sharing amongst “users” to build up the site con- order to build, promote or direct attention towards tent. It also differs from early web development (retrospec- an image of themselves connoted with the positive tively labelled Web 1.0) in that it moves away from static websites, the use of search engines, and surfing from one values associated with sharing and collaboration website to the next, and towards a more dynamic and inter- among peers (their users) or to associate its image active World Wide Web. However, the term Web 2.0 was orig- with that of non-corporate entities such as Wikipedia inally used to represent a shift in the business model, “a new or wiki technology in general; secondly, it refers to way of doing business”, after the dot-com crisis (O'Reilly 2005). concealing or limiting access to its role as a com- Mayo Fuster Morell: The Unethics of Sharing: Wikiwashing 10 IRIE International Review of Information Ethics Vol. 15 (09/2011) mercial service and infrastructure provider—such as Wikiwashing does not specifically rely on the use of conditions of use, sharing data with governments, wiki or a particular type of technology, but on the profit-making—in order to perform unethical and assertion in their public relations and branding abusive practices in these areas. strategy of possessing values associated with wikis (such as sharing and collaboration, openness and The term ‘wikiwashing’ is proposed for several transparency), whilst simultaneously concealing 2 reasons in order to frame this set of activities. unethical practices and practices not in line with Firstly it includes a reference to wiki. On many those values. occasions, Wikipedia or wiki technologies in general, and the positive values associated with them, have Infrastructure providers, regardless of whether they explicitly been used by corporations to "wash" (i.e. are for profit or not-for profit, always have some clean up), and thus make attractive, their image. form of public relations and a branding strategy. Secondly, the term wiki equates with speed. The Wikiwashing does not refer to public relations as reactions of corporations to "wash" their image tend such. Furthermore, wikiwashing should not be to be very fast