Introduction
Intercultural Information
Ethics (IIE) is an emerging research field. It deals with the impact of
information
and communication technology (ICT) on different cultures as well as
with the
discussion on ICT from different cultural perspectives. Both aspects
are
obviously interrelated. There is a narrow and a broad view of IIE. The
narrow
view is centered on ICT while the broad view considers other media.
Consequently, it is focused on the present status and future
development of
information societies as far as they are shaped by digital ICT. The
broad view
considers norms, values and rules of behavior in the field of
information and
communication independently of what communication medium is being used.
It deals
particularly with cultures in which an ethical reflection on moral
rules in the
information and communication field takes place. Due to the impact of
digital
ICT on present information societies, IIE is focused mainly on the
narrow view
so far. The comparative inter-cultural ethical analysis can be done at
a
descriptive as well as at a normative level. Ethics, understood as
problematization
of morality, has a critical task with regard to existing moral rules
and
behavior in different societies as well as with the question on how far
they
are compatible or can even be harmonized without overlooking their
differences.
Due to the fact that cultural differences play a key role in defining
individual
and social identity and considering also that such identities are
always a product
of cultural hybridization, ethical reflection deals
questions
of homogenization as well as of segregation and immunization.
A
critical theory of morality is a never ending academic task. It becomes
of
practical use when it is related to policy and law.
The first
international
conference on IIE was organized by the “International Center for
Information Ethics”
(ICIE) and took place in Karlsruhe
(Germany) in 2004. The proceedings of this
conference were published in the online journal “International Review
of
Information Ethics” (2004/2). A selection of papers was published by
Rafael
Capurro, Johannes Frühbauer, Thomas Hausmanninger (Eds.)
“Localizing the
Internet: Ethical Aspects in Intercultural Perspective” (Munich 2007).
The
journal “Ethics and Information Technology” (2005/1) published a
special issue
on intercultural aspects of privacy edited by Charles Ess. Another
issue of the
same journal (2006/8) edited by Luciano Floridi and Julian Savulescu
deals with
intercultural aspects of agents and artifacts. In February 2007 the
first
African Conference on Information Ethics took place in Pretoria (South
Africa).
The volume edited by Soraj
Hongladarom and Charles Ess “Information Technology Ethics: Cultural
Perspectives” is an outstanding contribution to IIE. As the title
clearly
indicates, the book deals with IIE in the narrow sense. It addresses
issues concerning
the impact of ICT on different cultures, and explores at the same time
some ICT
issues such as privacy, intellectual property, online communities,
governmentality, gender issues, mobile phones, health care, and the
digital
divide from an IIE perspective. Although both perspectives are
intertwined in
most of the papers, the first part of the volume deals mainly with
“Theoretical
Concerns” while the second part, “Specific Viewpoints,” presents some
case
studies with emphasis on the Far East. In the Preface, the editors
point to the
theoretical and practical necessity of IIE. On the theoretical level
there is
the danger of reliance on a single ethical system – from the West.
Computers
work the same way everywhere but they are embedded in different
cultural and
moral contexts which means that there is not such a thing as a neutral
technology. The editors plea for a theoretical and practical framework
based on
“resonance” instead of on “homogeneous universals.”
First Part: Theoretical
Concerns
Let us
briefly review some
of the contributions starting with the first part. According to Johny
Søraker
it is possible to broaden the moral status of ICT artefacts in case
they have
become a constitutive part of someone’s identity. The author draws
insights
from Western as well as from East Asian classical philosophy. Frances
Grodzinsky and Herman Tavani examine pros and cons of online
communities
particularly with regard to the digital divide and its effects at the
local
level, i.e., in the United States as well as in other nations such as
Malawi. Lorenzo
Magnani analyzes the rise of human hybridization with ICT und the
building of “material
cultures” (Karl Roth) consisting of food, dwellings, and furniture in
contrast
to immaterial interactions dealing with language as well as the actors’
perceptions, attitudes and values. According to Magnani, ICT can
enhance but
also jeopardize local cultures. Thomas Herdin, Wolfgang Hofkirchner and
Ursula
Maier-Rabler discuss the mutual influence between culture and
technology at an
inter- as well as at a trans-cultural level. They point to the
permeability
between global and local cultures, allowing individuals to switch
between
different identities. There is a danger in cultural universalism of
cultural
identities becoming homogenized. In his contribution on mobile phone
and
autonomy, Theptawee Chokvasin shows how the condition of
self-government
arising from hi-tech mobilization affects Thai culture. According to
Chokvasin
there is a kind of freedom in the Buddhist concept of autonomy that is
related
to impermanence (Anitya), suffering (Duhkha)
and not-self (Anatta). Not clinging to our individual
selves is the condition of possibility for moral behavior, i.e., for
“human
nobility.” Chokvasin claims that the mobility made possible by the
mobile phone
makes possible a new view on individuality as an instrumental value at
the cost
of disregarding the morally good. Maja van der Velden analyzes the
design of
Indymedia, an Internet-based alternative media network of independent
media
organizations and hundreds of journalists, and TAMI (Text, Audio,
Movies,
Images), an aboriginal database in Northern Australia useful for people
with
little or no literacy skills.
The last two contributions
to the first section deal with privacy and intellectual property. Dan
Burk
explores these issues from the perspective of utilitarian and
deontological
traditions in the United States and Europe in contrast to some
non-Western
approaches. The European tradition regards creative work as reflecting
the
author’s personality. According to Burk, two similar models of privacy
regulation have emerged. The United States has adopted a sectoral
approach eschewing comprehensive data protection laws
while the European Union has adopted an approach grounded in strong
individual
rights. In China, the Confucian tradition largely denied the value of
novel
creative contribution by instead promoting the respect for the
classical work
that should be emulated. Under this perspective, copying becomes a
cardinal
virtue. For New Zealand Maori, creative works belong to the tribe or
group, not
to a single author. Similarly, among some sub-Saharan communities as
well as in
the case of many Native American tribes the control of cultural
property may be
restricted to certain families. Similar alternatives to Western
individualist
conceptions and practices of privacy can be found in non-Western
cultures such
as the indigenous African norms based on the concept of ubuntu
that emphasizes communal values or in Japanese norms of
information access as defined by “situated community.” In his
contribution on
privacy from a Buddhist perspective, Soraj Hongladarom describes the
situation
challenging the privacy of Thai citizens due to the government’s plan
to
introduce a digital national identification card in a country with no
specific
law protecting personal information. The threat of political misuse
raises the
question on the nature of privacy and its justification. Hongladarom
explores
this question from the perspective of two famous Budhhist sages, namely
Nagarjuna (c. 150-250 AD) and Nagasena (c. 150 BC). The fact that
Buddhism
rejects the individual self does not mean, according to Hongladarom,
that it
rejects privacy. Privacy as used in everyday life, is not denied in
Buddhism.
It is in fact justified as an instrument for the purpose of living
harmoniously
according to democratic ideals.
Second Part:
Specific Viewpoints
The
second part of this
volume deals with case studies from Thailand, South-Africa, the UK,
Turkey and
the US. Pirongrong Ramasoota examines information privacy in Thai
society.
Classical Buddhist teaching may not necessarily reflect the behaviour
of
relatively secularized Buddhists in contemporary Thai society.
Ramasoota
presents an overview of privacy and data protection in Thai
legislation. The
Thai public is aware of the importance of control over the circulation
of one’s
personal information particularly in the Internet in order to limit
state
surveillance. Pattarasinee Bhattarakosol indicates that there are
various
factors related to the development of IT ethics in Thailand, one main
factor
being family background. According to Barbara Paterson, the computer
revolution
not only threatens to marginalize non-Western cultural traditions, but
the
Western way of life also has caused large-scale environmental damage.
The task
of computer ethics is to critically analyze such holistic effects.
Paterson
proposes that the Earth Charter can function as a framework for such
holistic
research as it addresses, unlike the WSIS declaration, a broader
public. In
their analysis of cross-cultural ethical issues of the current und
future state
of ICT deployment and utilization in healthcare, Bernd Stahl, Simon
Rogerson
and Amin Kashmeery argue that the ethical implications of such
applications are
multifaceted and have diverse degrees of sensitivity from culture to
culture.
The authors analyze cases of Western and non-Western cultures in order
to show
the complexity of these issues. Gonca Telli Yamamoto and Faruk Karaman
deal
with business ethics and technology in Turkey, a country in which
Western,
Islamic, and Turkish cultures compete. Even the Western-oriented
population do
not see, for instance, an ethical issue in copying intellectual
property. The
Internet revolution is felt in a delayed fashion in Turkey, which means
that
the digital divide became a serious problem. Lynettee Kvasny explores
the
existential significance of the digital divide for America’s
historically underserved
populations. According to Kvasny, the increased physical access to ICT
does not
signal the closure of the digital divide in the US. She refuses the
instrumental depiction of the digital divide.
Conclusion
This
edited volume is a
great effort to increase the awareness on complex moral and cultural
issues of
present global society. It encourages further thinking and practical
action. It
is evident that even in the narrow sense of IIE this compilation is not
complete, which is obvious in case of an emerging field. Cultural views
from,
say, Eastern Europe, the Arabic world, India, Latin America and Africa
are
almost absent or underrepresented. The book is highly relevant for
social
scientists interested in ICT and vice versa. It is an important tool
for
critical thinking in the field of ICT public policy. It should become
required
reading in information ethics courses.