Digital Ethics

This Methods Futures Briefing focuses on digital ethics. For decades, researchers have studied digital ethics at the intersection of philosophical thought, communication science and computational science. The core of its development lies in consideration of technological transformations and their ethical impact (Bynum, 2001). Terminology has changed over decades (Maner, 1980) while the focus of reflection has remained constant. The current debate around digital ethics includes deeper philosophical (authorial) and value-based (axiological) questions about digital-technological development itself (Mazzi, 2024). There are potentially new questions and problems regarding the application of digital ethics in the conceptualization, design and implementation of social research. This briefing describes digital ethics and suggests some possible developments that social researchers may need to consider in the medium term.