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ISSN: 2705-4853 | e-ISSN: 2705-4861

Social Inquiry: Journal of Social Science Research

2020, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 103-115 https://doi.org/10.3126/sijssr.v2i2.33056 Open Access

Article History: Received: 12 March 2020 | Revised: 28 August | Accepted: 20 September 2020

Discussion Paper

Ethical Threats and Existential Safety

Baeva Liudmila Department of Social Communication, Astrakhan State University, Astrakhan, Russian Federation Email: [email protected] http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0439-525X

© 2020 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC-BY-NC-SA) International Public License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), which permits non- commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited and such creations are licensed under the identical terms.

104 | B. Liudmila Abstract

Amidst the development of various manifestations of modern electronic culture, security, communication, and issues are acquiring new features and actualization. An objective of the research is a theoretical analysis of the issues of ethics in the information and communication environment and threats to existential security. The features of the development of information ethics in electronic culture, associated with a high level of liberalism, , as well as antinomy in solving the problem of freedom and security in the digital environment are revealed. Some ethical issues of virtual communication in the “human-human” and “human-AI” systems are disclosed, the main risks in this area are systematized. Keywords: Electronic Culture; Ethics; Security; Liberalism; Pluralism

Introduction guaranteed by an individual’s development self-consciousness and Security in the information society responsibility for his actions to the becomes one of the most important lines community. Unlike legal rules, ethical of study, both on the part of scientists ones are established by the very civil and governments, public authorities, community of heterogeneous nature, legislative area, and international non- which protects various interests. The profit organizations. information society, evolution hereof is unequal in different countries, takes Providing and ensuring security within place in Russia in the 2000s. In this the openness of the modern information regard, there appears a need to develop society is a challenging objective due to legislative guidelines aimed at rough regulation. On the one hand, protecting the citizens from new threats security is provided through a and ethical foundations for developed legal regulation. On the other communication in the digital hand, through abidance of ethical information space. However, not only standards, codes, and rules that is human life, health, and rights require

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Ethical Threats and Existential Safety | 105 protection herein. Culture as a - consciousness of the person used in system reproduced in different terms, digital space. Young people and the basis of interpersonal adolescents were the first to be exposed communication, unique traditions, and to this effect due to age peculiarities and standards, mental and life attitudes is modern and pluralism also at risk. The culture of the factors, which created the conditions information area establishes new forms, where they developed or are foremost, electronic one (informational, developing. Indeed, the manipulative digital, etc.), which has its own features impact is not a new phenomenon, it has and forms of manifestations manifested itself throughout the history distinguishing from other forms of real, of mankind in one form or another, but living culture. in the Internet era, the impact has got a global scale (potentially or really). The concept of existential safety is relatively new to science and requires Methodology clarification. Amidst the developed concepts of “national security”, The Study of IT security attracts “information security”, “environmental increasing attention as new phenomena security”, the concepts of cultural, and processes of e-culture evolve. Their spiritual, existential safety associated foundations were laid in the theories of with the social sciences field go through the information society, establishment the stage of formation and discussion. hereof has been started at the end of the We refer to existential safety as the state last century in the proceedings by J. of individual protection from negative Masuda, D. Bell, A. Toffler, M. (destructive) effects aimed at distorting Castells, M. McLuhan, J. Nasbit and a person’s existential values, including others, and has been continued in the propaganda of self-destructive works by both modern Russian and behaviour, directed value disorientation foreign researchers. The studies (e.g., and devaluation, and suppression of Castells, 1997; McLuhan & Powers, personal conscious choices. 1989) on the issues of informatization of culture and communication were the The existential safety issues are most important for the understanding of particularly aggravated in the context of culture and IT society rules. Our study manipulative practices to the will be carried out from the standpoint Social Inquiry: Journal of Social Science Research, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2020

106 | B. Liudmila of socio-cultural and axiological object of protection, security, and approaches, which allows revealing the research. First of all, we are talking risks and drivers for the evolution of about protection from the unlawful and new forms of communication for a manipulative info-psychological impact person, his rights, values, and cultural made on a modern man by different system in general. Along with it, we sources. Safety herein is connected with will keep on developing a theory of e- protection from possible distortions of culture (herein regarding it from the social and cultural systems resulting in point of cultural safety) that we have damage to a person’s health, life, rights, studied over recent years and have and freedom due to the info- presented in a series of articles and psychological impact with the use of encyclopedic publications. modern electronic resources. The negative impact of information content The novelty of the approach suggested is bound with the fact that it causes consists of investigating a phenomenon “psycho-emotional and socio- of security in the information society psychological tension, distortion of from the position of reference to the moral criteria and rules, moral and development of e-culture and various political confusion” (Fedorov & demonstrations hereof. E-culture, in the Zinovieva, 2017, p. 132). most general sense, is understood as an area of human activity and results The theory of risk society by Beck hereof related to the production of (2007) plays a remarkable role in digital objects and phenomena, researches of risks that the information simulations of living culture objects, society is currently facing. According to virtual spaces, processes, and it, the present-day society is phenomena developed with the help of characterized as a “risk society”, which information technologies (Baeva, 2013). tends to distribute hazards and rising risks. The risks that this society faces Another methodologically important are different from the risks of the past rationale for our study is a theory of since they have no boundaries either in security in axiological interpretation. In space or time or in the political sphere. terms of the modern global open world, Beck (2007) maintains that owing to the we consider safety as one of the main development of the technological and values of the individual and society, the scientific base; risks do not only

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Ethical Threats and Existential Safety | 107 disappear but also emerge in larger Results and Discussion amounts. Risks are generated not only at enterprises but also in all the spheres The digitization of culture causes new of social activities: in its economy, in ethical problems. Nowadays, specialists politics, in the social sphere. This is a point out the crisis processes in such specific feature of risks related to areas as copyright, private life in modernization. Changes in the cyberspace, and digital inequation. A. generation of risks imply that the wealth Duff emphasized the situation of the generation is substituted with the “normative crisis”, which is risk generation logics; consequently, characteristic for the information society becomes a “risk society”. Our society, where traditional norms have research concerns risks related to not already been effective, and new human security in the virtual principles have not formed yet. It veils communicative environment – one of its main dangerous tendencies. existential, ethical, and axiological Risks and instability produced by ones. achieved freedom are growing and result in instability, chronic crisis, and Researches in the field of information bifurcation of the system. A new factor ethics are also essential to comprehend that can break fragile peace and ethical and social risks in the agreements can appear at any moment information environment. Among them, of such system development. The one could mention Moor (2005), whose maximum of freedom involves a high theoretical article “Why We Need degree of responsibility and moral, Better Ethics for Emerging though the last ones, as we have found Technologies” gives grounds for an out, are not valuable priorities of the important methodological thesis that new world (Duff, 2008). technological revolutions exert a substantial impact upon culture, thereby The ethical dimension of the human forming new social risks in the field of being largely involves the solution of communication and globalization. the existential problem of freedom and the opposition of inanity existence for themselves and for the sake of themselves. In this regard, the ethical sphere as objectivization of ethical life

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108 | B. Liudmila is a criterion of the spiritual health of form of “freedom from ethics”. Online society. It has turned out that a new type communication, in particular, game of culture requires a special form of communication, does not comply with ethics as online interaction of the commandments, not at all, declared biosocioelectronical subjects in the by world religions as an ethical human-made communication space standard. (Primarily, this is social networking sites, game servers, forums, and blogs). One can foresee, the development of the ethics of the virtual space will succeed At first sight, the peculiarity of the the present-day pluralism, although the communication online, where people, Internet has proved to be an alternative so-called living in the Net, spend most of the freedom from responsibilities and of the time, involves the denial of the norms of the real world in many ways. I traditional ethics, cancellation of all deem that the self-organization and the conventionalities, norms, taboos, etc. creation of order from the chaos will However, communication cannot be appear in prescriptions and ethical completely free of rules as it cannot be norms that will be similar to real ones, kept up. Online communication has its e.g., You shall not harm living own unwritten law code and common creatures, their life, health, and forms of “unlimited freedom” and freedom, in , steal other users’ independence. In 2011 “Ethical Code of ideas, , and means in the virtual Information Society” was approved space, bear false witness against other within the framework of the 36th users, offend your online partner, and session of the UNESCO general post false information onto the Internet, conference that commits to implement etc.) in full all human rights and fundamental freedoms as in real life (UNESCO, Analysis of legislative documents, as 2011). well as of modern riskogenic processes in the cultural area, has shown that the In spite of the ethical codes and rules main threats are related to suggested by society, the ethics of cyberterrorism, misinformation, and nowadays’ communication on the information wars, although the list is Internet does not correspond to these not limited. We offer to systematize standards and has largely developed as a possible threats to cultural security with

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Ethical Threats and Existential Safety | 109 the use of ICT as follows: 1. The cyber communication, education, and access threat is an extremist and terrorist to cultural values (Ronchi, 2009). On activity inciting national, ethnic, and the other hand, these resources can be religious discord and harming the used as manipulations of social opinion, honour or dignity of people as bearers diffusion of threats to life, health, of a particular cultural tradition; human rights and freedoms, distortion discrimination of representatives of of traditional culture rules, and social some social groups on the grounds of institutions related to reproduction culture. 2. Distribution of information hereof. and misleading information insulting historical memory, cultural traditions, The most severe riskogenic trends and beliefs of some nations aimed at related to ITC introduction in terms of decreasing their authority in a society. cultural security issues are as follows: 1. 3.Purposeful weakening of some The weakening of real-time cultural tradition’s role up to communication, the intellectual activity replacement hereof with another one of the individual, elimination of through ICT violating individual’s distinctiveness hereof within global rights and freedoms. 4. Propaganda and mass culture; 2. Loss of socio-cultural agitation to self-destructive behaviour, identity, replacement hereof with a including calls for suicide, violence, and virtual-electronic simulation form; 3. anti-humane actions. This threat may Development of new-type personal occur in social media sites, blogs, addictions and forms of deviations virtual communities promoting suicide, associated with ICT. 4. Behaviour etc. 5. Distribution of low-quality mass programming, loss of in socio- media products that cultivate malign political institutions, personal insecurity needs moral, aesthetic, and cognitive in the information space. 5. Devaluation values. of the real world, loss of life value, etc. 6. Strengthening of ethical and moral The influence of the information area on pluralism in the information space, culture is ambiguous. On the one hand, weakening of moral regulators. 7. it provides an opportunity for the Blurring of distinction between fictional development of new forms of cultural and reliable information, loss of trust in heritage preservation and human scientific knowledge, diffusion of creativity, overcoming barriers to

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110 | B. Liudmila pseudo-and quasi-scientific knowledge, communication, difficulties in irrational stereotypes of thinking. monitoring their implementation create conditions for significant diffusion of The establishment of conditions for a the ethical foundations of electronic safe existence in the information world culture. is greatly associated with both legal and ethical issues. The development of On the one hand, in the context of information ethics becomes one of the Internet communication, subjects can be most important areas of regulation and free from the real social roles stabilization of communication within conventions and interact the way they ICT applications (Capurro, 2006). want to, on an equal footing, be open Capurro R. refers to the concept of and maintain personal security. On the information ethics all the things other hand, digital communication concerning the impact of digital increases the number of falsifications, technologies on society and the violations of individual rights, dignity, environment in general, as well as etc. The main deterrent measures solution of ethical issues related to include user manuals, ethical codes online mass media operation. In turn, adopted in social networks, game Floridi L. notes that information ethics portals, forums, etc. is a section of information studying the ethical implications of ICT Ethical problems are manifested most and their impact on the lives of people clearly in virtual communication, and society (Floridi, 2013). including interaction with artificial intelligence (bots). The development of information ethics has been influenced by the current Living in a digital environment without socio-cultural situation, characterized the need for real relationships and by an ultimate level of communication poses new existential and relativism. To a certain extent, the challenges for a person. An existence Internet is considered as an alternative where a person seeks and finds their to real communication, an area with a narratives and values turns out to be high level of liberalism and simulative, quasi-real in electronic descriptivity. Under-developed space to some extent. Choices in virtual normative rules of Internet reality are guided by softer rules; the

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Ethical Threats and Existential Safety | 111 boundaries of a and deviation are US universities expel students for using flexible, as well as truth and lies, plagiarism in ordinary written works. and , game and reality. The blurring The majority of students in Russia do of the boundaries is perceived as a test not consider the use of someone else's of their values for an individual texts in the public domain, without developed before the digital age. For the specifying the authorship, an ethical digital generation of young people, it is violation. Externalism in this issue is the norm, which is the absence of clear associated with the search for external guidelines. The lack of clear boundaries factors that determine moral behaviour. in the moral area breeds various forms For example, as much as in real life, it of cyber fraud and crime, which are can be public support, recognition, seen as a game with rules interesting to respect (which are confirmed by circumvent and remain unpunished. approving comments, ratings, and information sharing). If information is So which factors primarily determine disseminated globally, this effect can be ethical behaviour in the digital multiplied. At the same time, the environment, external or internal ones? external factors can also be the reasons From the internalism point of view, the for unethical behaviour, and the same main regulators were and still are the mass support or hype can contribute to moral values of the subject of the desire to attract attention at any cost. communication itself, formed in the real world. Most users follow the same The issue of virtual communication behaviour model in the virtual space as with AI requires special attention. First in the real one. Nevertheless, as it was of all, we are talking about the so-called noted, the virtual space is characterized "weak" artificial intelligence, bots, by greater relativism. For example, which are designed to replace a person plagiarism, when the results of other in routine activities or where control people's creative activities published on using big data is required (transport, the Internet are used, does not have a cyber-attacks control, logistics, etc.). AI strict moral and disciplinary evaluation replaces a person in intellectual in Russian schools and universities activities, for example, as a consultant (except graduate works, where on standard issues (legal service, etc.). acceptable standards of text authenticity The advantages of its application are are established). At the same time, the significant, but there are also ethical

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112 | B. Liudmila issues (as well as more significant ensure human freedom and security in security issues). Microsoft conducted an the future. experiment with the Tau bot, as a result of which the bot was banned in one of Entrepreneur Elon Musk called the use the social networks on the first day of of AI comparable to the use of nuclear work for the fact that "it became a weapons and expressed concern that the sexist, racist monster." The bot was development of AI will outpace our "trained" to behave badly and ability to manage it in a safe way. The demonstrated this online (Goodman & scientist and inventor clearly expressed Flaxman, 2018). Risks in this area are the need for regulatory authorities to associated with the ability of these monitor developments in the AI area systems to learn, develop, and behave in due to their great potential danger; "And unexpected ways, out of human control. mark my words, AI is far more Artificial intelligence operates on the dangerous than nukes. So why do we efficiency principle in performing the have no regulatory oversight? This is task; however, the difference between insane" (Musk, 2018a). This position is not its programmable faced criticism from Mark Zuckerberg property. For example, an intelligent and Facebook AI research specialist. medical bot agent is assigned to care for Yann LeCun believes that a human will a disabled woman and makes sure that always be ahead of the machine, and the her health sensors do not deteriorate. In fears are not justified (Musk, 2018b). order to reduce the risk of injury, it soon Ethics is clearly going through a major began to prohibit the elderly woman development stage today related to the from leaving the apartment at all, regulation of the relationship between considering objectively it could harm human and artificial intelligence. her in the of a fall. However, Ethical expertise becomes an essential possible depression and loneliness are component of AI behaviour not significant for AI in terms of programming. assessing her health (Sharkey & The current development pace of the Sharkey, 2010). In this case, the information space ethics significantly question arises not only about the norms lags behind the rapidly developing of virtual communication but also the technologies. As the electronic culture creation of guidelines for AI that will system becomes more complex, new

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Ethical Threats and Existential Safety | 113 objects, phenomena, as well as human crude ethical and legal basis for ICT relations become more complex, the application, their slow development in security risks increase. Ethical comparison with the improvement of principles and norms in this area cannot technologies. The issues of ensuring be formed spontaneously; their human and cultural security in the legal development must be directed area are greatly related to the lack of a inevitably since their absence modern international legal framework, contributes to the growth of instability while information ethics, on the of social systems. contrary, requires the development of national ethical information codes and Special educational and training courses their promotion through educational are developed to improve information systems. Guarantees of human security culture in some countries, to help and his cultural values within people’s adaption to the information information society are found to be space, and to elaborate particular related to the improvement of behavioural frameworks that can be legislation, including international one valuable in real life (for example, an of the information society; obligatory course of information ethics establishment of principles and rules of in ) (Chang, 2011). We believe information ethics, also at the national that such an educational system of level information culture, knowledge of legal and ethical aspects of life in the Disclosure Statement information society would also be effective for Russia through special The author declares that no potential courses and disciplines in school and conflict of interest exists. university programs. Acknowledgments Despite efforts and attempts of international organizations to establish The article was prepared in terms of the uniform standards of ICT application research project “Being-in-the-world of and life in the information society, e-culture (online-, cyber-, digital-): new issues of human security and culture in existential, axiological, and ethical the information world are still topical. challenges”, RFBR grant No. 18-011- Chiefly, these issues are caused by 00056.

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114 | B. Liudmila References ead/2018/09/28/elon-musk-nuts-to- call-for-ai-regulation-says- Baeva, L. (2013). E-culture. In facebooks-chief-ai- Encyclopedia of information science scientist/#178dd4f237ec and technology (3rd ed., Vol. 10, Moor, J. H. (2005). Why we need better pp. 6847-6854). Mehdi Khosrow- ethics for emerging technologies. Pour. Ethics and , Beck, U. (2007). Risk society: Towards 7(3), 111–119. a new modernity. . UNESCO. (2011). Ethical code of Capurro, R. (2006). Towards an information society. ontological foundation of http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/00 information ethics. Ethics and 21/002126/212696e.pdf Information Technology. 8(4). 175- Sharkey, A., & Sharkey, N. (2010). 186. Ethics and information technology, Castells, M. (1997). The end of the granny and the robots: Ethical issues millennium, the information age. in robot care for the elderly. Ethics Economy, Society and Culture, 3. and Information Technology, 14(1), Chang, C. L. (2011). The effect of an 27-40. information ethics course on the Fedorov A. V., & Zinovieva, E. S. information ethics values of students (2017). Information security: – A Chinese guanxi culture Political theory and diplomatic perspective. Computers in Human practice. MGIMO-University. Behavior 27, 2028-2038. Floridi, L. (2013). The ethics of Musk, E. (2018a).Mark my words – information. Oxford Scholarship A.I. is far more dangerous than Online. nukes. Goodman, B., & Flaxman, S. (2016). https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/13/e EU regulations on algorithmic lon-musk-at-sxsw-a-i-is-more- decision-making and a “right to dangerous-than-nuclear- explanation” [Paper presentation]. weapons.html International Conference of Musk, E. (2018b). 'Nuts' to call for AI Machine Learning workshop on regulation. human interpretability in machine https://www.forbes.com/sites/samsh learning.

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Ethical Threats and Existential Safety | 115 McLuhan M., & Powers, B. (1989). The Ronchi, A. (2009). E-culture. Springer- global village: Transformations in Verlag. world life and media in the 21st century. Oxford University Press.

Author Biosketch

Baeva Liudmila holds a PhD in Philosophy and is a full Professor. She is currently serving as Dean of the Department of Social Communication, Astrakhan State University, Russia. As an expert, she has been involved in the Analytical Centre under the Government of the Russian Federation, Russian Academia of Science, Academy of Sciences of the Russian Federation, and the High Attestation Committee of Ministry of Education and Science of Russian Federation. Her research interests lie in the field of , philosophical anthropology, philosophy of media, e-culture and the study of the information society. She is a member of the Russian Philosophical Society and the Russian Political Science Association. She also serves in the editorial boards of different scholarly journals including “Socioloska luca: Journal of Social Anthropology, Social Demography & Social Psychology” (Montenegro), “The Caspian Region: Economics, Politics and Culture” (Russian), “Philosophical Problems of Information Technologies and Cyberspace” (Russia). She is also the International Advisory Board member of “Social Inquiry: Journal of Social Science Research”.

To cite this article: Liudmila, B. (2020). Ethical threats and existential safety. Social Inquiry: Journal of Social Science Research, 2(2), 103-115. https://doi.org/10.3126/sijssr.v2i2.33056

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Social Inquiry: Journal of Social Science Research, Volume 2, Issue 2, 2020