Jacque: So Monica, what are the ethical implications of social media on individuals who use and are impacted by the technology?
Monica: Some additional ethical and social implications of social media usage, Jacque, are the rise in cybercrime facilitated by these sites. Two concerning predominant and leading areas in this criminal’s cyberspace are revenge porn and drugs.
Jacque: Revenge porn?
Monica: The first comprehensive research on “revenge porn” has revealed the mass scale of victimisation across Australia, with 1 in 5 people suffering image-based abuse. The survey of more than 4200 people by RMIT University and Monash University researchers has shown women and men are equally likely to be victims. But the research also showed marginalised groups are especially vulnerable, with image-based abuse affecting 1 in 2 Indigenous Australians and 1 in 2 people with a disability. The risk of victimisation is also higher for young people and members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Image-based abuse has emerged so rapidly as an issue that inevitably our laws and policies are struggling to catch up, and a lack of proper legal and support responses made it incredibly difficult for victims to get justice.
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Marnie: From an academic perspective, I can confidently say that the ability to access drugs has been made extremely easier through social media pages. Instagram accounts are using hashtags with code names of drugs to advertise their business which is making contacting drug dealers so much easier, which is extremely scary to know seeing as teenagers use the app frequently.
Jacque: So, Monica, we are aware that you are the author of an ethical Commons inquiry report on heavy fines faced by social media firms over extremist content. Could you tells us a little bit about this report and what you found were the consequences for the social media