One of the significant issue facing Information Technology is that of security and it is not so much concerned with the security of hardware against theft as it is the security of software and content. The security here relates to the confidentiality of data, its consistency and integrity. It also involves the question of controlling access to resources. In fact, the question of security is of prime importance in e-business environment, but here we are not going to discuss that as our concern in journalism is related to the security of content. The issue of security of content is also linked to some extent with the issue of copy right.
As internet and world wide web are connecting people all over the globe the scholars working in the area of computer ethics have started talking of Global Ethics. It simply means that in the age of information technology one can not merely talk about the morals and values as perceived locally, one would have to also think of globally accepted code of conduct, and would have to defend human values like democracy, equality and fraternity. One will have to keep in mind that the Information Technology revolution is taking place in an unevenly divided world. We have already started thinking in terms of Information Rich and Information poor, i.e. the digital divide.
Deborah G. Johnson has rightly raised the issue of democracy being embedded in the internet. While discussing this topic the author has rightly raised the issue of values and technology. Indeed, the science and technologies are considered value neutral, but in a society ridden with social inequalities the technology becomes synonymous with power. It is for this reason one finds that the values of socially powerful groups define the face science and technologies. However, it is also a fact that many instances can be found where the technologies shape the values as the inclusion of new technologies in the social system creates disturbances that generate the need for new kind of values to reestablish the equilibrium.
In spite of the high cost of production of messages in television, I have found television as a medium that furthers the cause of democracy. The reason behind it is simple. Television acquires its legitimacy and reliability by incorporating masses in the form of visuals and voix pop. The hither to unknown voices get a chance to be heard. Similarly, the Information Technology has created more space for democratic dialogue as compared to the print or television. In this sense, any attempt to reduce the space for democratic and interactive participation would be unethical. Even the attempts of keeping the information poor away from the benefits of information Technology would be seen as an attempt to reduce the space.
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