An Ethical Discussion About the Responsibility for Protection of Minors in the Digital Environment: A state-of-the-art review

Abstract

Many ethical questions have been raised regarding the use of social media and the internet, mainly related to the protection of young people in the digital environment. In order to critically address the research question “who is responsible for ethically protecting minors in the digital environment?”, this paper will review the main literature available to understand the role of parents, the government, and companies in protecting young people within the digital environment. We employed a holistic process that covers a state-of-the-art review and desk research. The article is divided into four sessions; (1) Government Policies from the European Union (EU) Perspective; (2) Parental Control; (3) An Overview of Companies and the Private and Self-Regulation Sectors; and (4) the Ethical Dilemma. Throughout, we reviewed specific topics regarding the potentially harmful content for young people within the digital environment, questioned how ethical concerns shape content and interactions online and discussed how internet parenting styles impact risks and opportunities for young people in the digital world. Finally, we analysed the research question contrasting it with the main findings in this review and offered recommendations.

Designing and Validating a Method to Measure Young People’s Susceptibility to Social Media Influencers: The SUSIS Questionnaire

“…Social Perception is composed of three elements: Perception Towards Influencers, Parasocial Relationships and Consumer Trust. In turn, Perception Towards Harmful Content is composed of 28 types of harmful content posted online which were categorised in a previous critical review analysis (Alves de Castro et al, 2022).…”

“…Finally, even less research has focused on revealing the negative influences of SMIs on young people (Alves de Castro et al, 2022). As such, the main objective of the present study is to present and analyse a new instrument able to assess the susceptibility of young people to be influenced by social media influencers.…”

Pengaruh Kebijakan Privasi, dan Tingkat Kepercayaan Pada Platform Digital terhadap Perilaku Pengguna dalam Melindungi Privasi Online di Indonesia

“…Selain itu, perlu untuk mempelajari patologi yang terkait dengan lingkungan digital pada tingkat populasi menggunakan pendekatan epidemiologi (Konovalov & Bozhkova, 2022). Tanggung jawab untuk melindungi secara etis anak di lingkungan digital terletak pada orang tua, pemerintah, dan perusahaan (Alves de Castro et al, 2022). Pengumpulan data pribadi melalui mekanisme digital untuk tujuan pemasaran menimbulkan kekhawatiran tentang privasi dan perlindungan data, khususnya di industri kosmetik (Cruz et al, 2022).…”