Ethically confusing defamation problem - 4 views

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  #1 guanyou chen on 19 Aug 09

   

  Link: http://www.rednano.sg/sfe/pastnews.action?&querystring=online%20defamation&pubid=ST&sort=D
  
  Summary:
  
  A man who visited and then later robbed a prostitute was chastised and publicly shamed in an online forum (the very same forum which he first solicited her services). This forum was suppose to ensure anonymity, but enraged by his actions, a few zealous members of the forum dug up private information on the man and posted it online.
  
  Ethical Problem:
  
  This is an interesting case to ruminate on because inherently, both the victim and the protagonist are involved in shady prostitution business - which is a questionable ethical issue on its own. This is further impinged by the fact that these already dubious affairs were carried out on a forum created to ensure that these affairs were kept in the dark (a social construct of technology). In the article the issue was whether it was a justified action by the righteous members, who I am sure were driven by a deontological zest to crucify the guilty party. While no doubt we all would feel that the man deserved some form of reckoning, as Lawyer Amolat Singh has mentioned to the Newpaper, this could possibly be an illegal act to do. So herein lies the dilemma, because while technology allowed some 'justice' to be served, the ethical principles behind the punishment are much more controversial.
  
  In a single sentence, the problem could be summarized as such: While doing a wrong thing with a woman, a man did a other wrong thing to a woman, and a few other wanted to do the right thing by punishing him but did something that was possibly, ethically right but legally wrong. Confusing? Intriguing perhaps, with the many layers of morality needed before we can consider the ethical implications of the
  actions.
  
  Ethical Question:
  
  Ethical problems are difficult enough to manage even when the morality underlying it is more or less fixed. Yet in this unique case, where the ethical actions are based on already morally questionable affairs, can conventional ethical logic still function or do we have to reconsider them in a different light?

   

  <div class="cArrow"> </div><div class="cContentInner">Link: <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.rednano.sg/sfe/pastnews.action?&querystring=online%20defamation&pubid=ST&sort=D">http://www.rednano.sg/sfe/pastnews.action?&querystring=online%20defamation&pubid=ST&sort=D</a> <br /> <br /> Summary: <br /> <br /> A man who visited and then later robbed a prostitute was chastised and publicly shamed in an online forum (the very same forum which he first solicited her services). This forum was suppose to ensure anonymity, but enraged by his actions, a few zealous members of the forum dug up private information on the man and posted it online. <br /> <br /> Ethical Problem: <br /> <br /> This is an interesting case to ruminate on because inherently, both the victim and the protagonist are involved in shady prostitution business - which is a questionable ethical issue on its own. This is further impinged by the fact that these already dubious affairs were carried out on a forum created to ensure that these affairs were kept in the dark (a social construct of technology). In the article the issue was whether it was a justified action by the righteous members, who I am sure were driven by a deontological zest to crucify the guilty party. While no doubt we all would feel that the man deserved some form of reckoning, as Lawyer Amolat Singh has mentioned to the Newpaper, this could possibly be an illegal act to do. So herein lies the dilemma, because while technology allowed some 'justice' to be served, the ethical principles behind the punishment are much more controversial. <br /> <br /> In a single sentence, the problem could be summarized as such: While doing a wrong thing with a woman, a man did a other wrong thing to a woman, and a few other wanted to do the right thing by punishing him but did something that was possibly, ethically right but legally wrong. Confusing? Intriguing perhaps, with the many layers of morality needed before we can consider the ethical implications of the <br /> actions. <br /> <br /> Ethical Question: <br /> <br /> Ethical problems are difficult enough to manage even when the morality underlying it is more or less fixed. Yet in this unique case, where the ethical actions are based on already morally questionable affairs, can conventional ethical logic still function or do we have to reconsider them in a different light?</div>

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