Controversial Issues in Business Ethics - Essay Example

Controversial Issues in Business Ethics Controversial Issues in Business Ethics Modern technology has introduced changes in communication through the establishment of social networking sites with the most notable being Facebook. This is a social networking site that was established in 2004 and it is privately owned and operated by Facebook Inc (Harvell, 2012). This is social site has the highest number of active users and in 2010 it was approximated to have nearly 500 million users (Harvell, 2012. Users can perform various tasks on the site such as update their personal profiles, add friends on Facebook, update their status and send message. Furthermore, individuals can join groups created by their friends or places of work. The social site allows individuals that are older than thirteen years to sign up for it. In spite of the of the reputation and financial success that is being enjoyed by the social site, the company has not been without controversy with regards to the ethical issues surrounding the privacy of personal information and the interference with the individuals moods (Klitzman, 2014). This essay argues that Facebook should follow the ethical standards that apply to other entities at large. First, Facebook did a contentious social experiment that showed that the Facebook did not apply the ethical standards relating to privacy of the users. This experiment interfered with the moods of the users by using new feeds. Such an experiment was way out of line and went against the ethical standards that apply to other organizations. This goes ahead to prove that the company may have conducted similar experiments in the past (Klitzman, 2014). The main reason why this was wrong is because the experiment interfered with the users feelings without their consent. Other organizations that take part in such experiments employ the well-established ethical standards. This is by obtaining consent from the users and informing them of the terms and conditions of taking part in the experiment as well as the expected results. Facebook grossly violated their users trust and it can be noted that the experiment on moods achieved this. On the other hand, the company defended its actions by stating that the experiments were safe but this is not always true (Klitzman, 2014). Playing with the users emotions is plainly wrong and different from asking them to express their feeling towards controversial issues such as their views on candidates in a general election. It can therefore be seen that Facebook breached the trust of the trust of its users in this experiment. Other entities employ ethical standards to ensure increased trust among its users and the same rules should apply to Facebook. Research has demonstrated that the information that the users get from social media sites can have a considerable impact on their moods (Klitzman, 2014). This effect is prevalent among teenagers that are easily influenced by the information they get from Facebook. Changes in moods can have negative effects on the users that may be reflected through declined performance at school or work, weight and appetite complications, self-esteem issues and suicidal thoughts. Facebook has conducted numerous experiments in the past that are aimed at interfering with the users’ moods. Furthermore, it is difficult to tell the number of times that Facebook has undertaken such experiments or for how long they have been doing it. Facebook however has justifications for this experiments that were done in 2012 (Klitzman, 2014). The social site stated that the users agreed to such tests when they signed up for it. This is unethical as the users are not clearly briefed on this these terms and conditions. The social site however stipulated about the possibility of such experiments in the data use consent later. The present agreement may not be necessarily adequate however, this varies depending on the experiment. Facebook should be actively involved in notifying the users of the terms and conditions of using the site before they sign up for it. Additionally, its policies should be clearly spelt out to avoid contradiction and confusion in use. If the users are aware of the fact that mood experiments will be conducted on them they may choose to willingly sign up for it or avoid it altogether. Ethical rules apply to all entities that perform experiments relating to human beings. In the modern times, biotech companies, pharmaceutical companies and institutions of higher learning have consented to follow the ethical standards and the federal rules that govern research that is done on human subjects. Facebook should not be an exception to these ethical rules and regulations (Klitzman, 2014). It has been observed that automobile and pharmaceutical companies are not allowed to make rules and alter them as they wish at the expense of their consumers. On the contrary, internet sites including Facebook fail to adhere to the well-established ethical standards that govern all forms of human research. However, they ought to. Facebook states that its employees assess that research that is conducted on its users. This fact is not indicated on the terms of use. The users are not informed about this when signing up for its use and this is highly unethical. For example, the users are not informed about the experiments that had been altered or rejected owing to the fact that they were highly unethical (Klitzman, 2014). The users are not informed about the nature of the studies as well. What more is that these experiments are conducted by the employees showing a conflict of interest in evaluating experiments in the entity for which they work. It would be ethical if the entity outsourced other companies to conduct these experiments on the behalf of their employees. Federal policies call for institutions to conduct research based on the ethical standards that have been set up by the Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) (Klitzman, 2014). These boards establish whether the ethical standards are followed in the various forms of research. It is important for the IRB to have an unaffiliated individuals and this minimizes incidences of conflict of interest. Facebook should follow the standards that have been laid down by the IRB to ensure minimal risk and for the entire process to be viewed as ethical and without a hitch. However, the regular practice is not aimed at allowing the researchers to set their own rules during the implementation (Klitzman, 2014). In various instances, there have been violations mainly in scientific research where scientists have done this. The example of the mock penitentiary that was conducted in Stanford is given in this case. Students were allowed to take up the roles of prisoners and guards. The psychologist who was in charge of the experiment had made an assumption that there would be minimal risk in the study. He had made a mistake in his assumption as the guards started beating the prisoners. It is assumed that the individuals that undertake social media research are trained anthropologists, sociologist and qualified social scientists from other field. These fields have strict and well-established ethical standards and codes of professional practice (Klitzman, 2014). This requires Facebook researchers to obtain informed consent before conducting research. This minimizes occurrence of ethical issues that are similar to the ones in the mood experiment. To sum up, it is unclear whether Facebook went against the laws that govern research that is funded by federal agencies. However, what is clear is that the company went against the ethical standards that relate to their users privacy. This controversy was stirred when it became clear that Facebook was using newsfeed to manipulate its users’ mood. From the above discussion it is clear that Facebook should act based on the universal rules that apply to the research guidelines. The company should hand over its findings to the IRB and avoid conducting mood experiments on children. References Harvell, B. (2012). Facebook. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons Inc. Klitzman, R. (2014). Why Facebook Should Follow Ethical Standards -- LIke Everybody Else. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-klitzman-md/why-facebook- needs-to-fol_b_5557862.html Read More