Ethical Programming for the Public Good
23 Apr 2020Huh? Ethics in Computer Science?
Ethics is rarely a term that crosses the mind of early software engineers because they are too focused with functionality–that the program works and completes the task that was assigned. Being an undergraduate in Computer Science, I can truthfully say that the topic of ethics had never gone through my head, and this is because most of the lower division classes don’t mention ethics, but rather the skill set and problem-solving that is needed in order to make a program. There is no denying the potential harm that any unrefined software could bring, even if it was unintentional. We want to analyze these situations, learn from these mistakes, and always be prepared for the worst.
Case Study: Harassment
The Gamergate controversy of 2014 was an abominable campaign started by a community of trolls targeting prominent females, namely, game developers Zoe Quinn and Brianna Wu, and feminist media critic Anita Sarkeesian. These harassment campaigns went as far as to doxing, rape and death threats. Commentators dismissed the situation, presuming it wasn’t an ethical issue of concern. When people congregate anonymously, it is difficult to distinguish the perpetrators once they pounce upon victims. No one took responsibility, and these hateful communities often denied the abuse they were inflicting on these women, but could this have been avoided altogether with some efforts? The mistreatment of these women was obvious, yet no action was really taken, even when the situation has become so widespread. I feel that engineers are responsible in taking part in this Gamergate movement before it started destroying the lives of these females.
Similarly, the case of The Serial Swatter took a 1000 hour worth of investigating on part of private detective B.A. Finley. The perpetrator took the name as “Obnoxious” and his actions were exactly what his pseudo name describes. It is sickening to see the persistent amount of threats he had imposed on Twitch streamers–mostly women–for his own satisfaction. As a software engineer at Twitch, I would feel that my ethical obligation, and priority, be to ensure the safety of all gamers. Twitch should be a platform to bring gamers together–not a platform to torment and bully users who simply want to have a great time. Bullying is not to be tolerated and should be reported immediately if it ever happens. If a user reports something suspicious, moderators should inspect the situation carefully and closely monitor if there are recurring cases of threats and fraudulent activity.
In times like these, software engineers have a role–a role to ensure that no one is discriminated and that all people have a right in participation. We have already seen the damage done to innocent victims, partially due to the neglect on part of moderators and developers. We can’t just continue to go about our daily lives knowing the sexist commentary and the constant threats imposed on the innocent. It may seem obvious to the public to know what is morally right and wrong. However, events like these serve to reveal the lowest in human beings, and that not everyone has the same perspective of what is right or wrong. On the bright side, there is a general opinion morality, unless everyone thinks that it is okay to hurt each other because if that’s the case, then we’d all be living in chaos. We can take preventative measures in the software we make, with the thought that anyone is to engage in whatever we publish.
My takeaway on ethics in programming
The lessons I have learned from this module are invaluable. The scenarios presented in this module are in fact very real in our day to day lives, and they allow us to reflect upon ourselves critically when writing code. Needless to say, it is inevitable that there will always people with corrupt intentions. Cyber bullying is an issue that should not be taken lightly. We never know what is to happen to these victims and the last thing we would want is to lose a precious life. That is why it is important to learn the ethics in software engineering and how overlooking even the littlest situations could immensely impact others. A way to protect ourselves and the community from harm is to be cognizant of these offenders, to report trolls, to tackle offenders immediately, and to inform everyone the severity of cyber bullying and harassment.