Skip to main content
Markkula Center for Applied Ethics Homepage

Internet Ethics

The Markkula Center for Applied Ethics highlights a variety of ethical issues related to the internet's role in society.

What is Internet Ethics?

The Internet Ethics program explores topics like AI ethics, online privacy, cybersecurity, social media, data ethics, the digital divide, internet access, and more. In collaboration with the Technology Ethics program, it also addresses corporate tech ethics development, and software engineering ethics—developing teaching and training materials related to each of those subjects.

 

The image shows a surreal landscape with vast green fields extending toward distant mountains under a cloudy sky. Embedded in the fields are digital circuit patterns, resembling an intricate network of blue lines, representing a technological infrastructure. Five large computer monitors with keyboards are placed in a row, each with a Navajo woman sitting in front, weaving the computers.
Navigate here to Internet Ethics Case Studies

Internet Ethics Case Studies

Concise ethics case studies focus on topics including various aspects of AI, privacy, hacking, social media, virtual reality, and more.


The image shows a surreal landscape with vast green fields extending toward distant mountains under a cloudy sky. Embedded in the fields are digital circuit patterns, resembling an intricate network of blue lines, representing a technological infrastructure. Five large computer monitors with keyboards are placed in a row, each with a Navajo woman sitting in front, weaving the computers.
Navigate here to Internet Ethics Videos

Internet Ethics Videos

Hear what voices from Silicon Valley and beyond, including our staff and fellows, are saying about important ethical challenges in the online world.


The image shows a surreal landscape with vast green fields extending toward distant mountains under a cloudy sky. Embedded in the fields are digital circuit patterns, resembling an intricate network of blue lines, representing a technological infrastructure. Five large computer monitors with keyboards are placed in a row, each with a Navajo woman sitting in front, weaving the computers.
Navigate here to Internet Ethics Teaching Modules

Internet Ethics Teaching Modules

Teaching modules are a major thrust of our efforts in technology and internet ethics, with a special focus on data ethics and cybersecurity ethics.


The image shows a surreal landscape with vast green fields extending toward distant mountains under a cloudy sky. Embedded in the fields are digital circuit patterns, resembling an intricate network of blue lines, representing a technological infrastructure. Hanna Barakat & Archival Images of AI + AIxDESIGN, Better Images of AI, CC BY 4.0
Navigate here to Internet Ethics Resources

Internet Ethics Resources

Additional resources highlight applied ethics in the digital world.


Upcoming Events

Internet Ethics: Views from Silicon Valley
Illustration of people grabbing their heads in front of keyboards
On Chatbot Psychosis and What Might Be Done to Address It

Do chatbots sometimes lead their users to "break with reality"? And what might be done about it?

cloud shapes made of silicon
From “Surprise and Delight” to “Startle and Dismay”

On the ethics of integrating AI (amid claims of widespread adoption)

Recent Media Mentions
AI-enhanced Photos Show up in Real Estate Listings

Irina Raicu, director, internet ethics, quoted by NBC Bay Area.

ChatGPT Will Soon Allow Adults to Generate Erotica.

Irina Raicu, director, internet ethics, quoted by KQED.

Students at computers with screens that include a representation of a retinal scanner with pixelation and binary data overlays and a brightly coloured datawave heatmap at the top.

AI Ethics Literacy

A growing need, a growing list of issues, and a growing collection of resources from the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. Curated by Irina Raicu and Subramaniam Vincent.

Explore Resources

IT, Ethics, and Law Lecture Series

The Ethics Center and the High Tech Law Institute collaborate to sponsor this series of presentations on topics in information technology. Speakers have included Jonathan Zittrain, co-founder of the Berkman Center for Internet and Society; Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist; and Kara Swisher, journalist. 

Learn About Events in the Series

Alt text:
A person holds a camera lens to view the setting sun.

Ethics in Tech Practice

Ethics in Technology Practice aims to provide free materials to encourage and support ethics training workshops in technology companies.

Go to Learning Module

AI and the Environment: Sustaining the Common Good

On November 1, 2024 the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics and Next 10 cosponsored a daylong conference that brought together academics from a variety of disciplines, industry and government representatives, SCU students, and the broader public, to explore the intersection of AI and sustainability.

Access recordings of the six panels which comprised the conference

AI Transparent Background
Institute for Technology, Ethics, and Culture Logo. Background:Technology Abstract cropped, faded, and inverted by kentoh_Adobe Stock

Institute for Technology, Ethics, and Culture (ITEC)

The Institute for Technology, Ethics and Culture (ITEC), housed at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, is a collaboration between the Center and the Vatican’s Dicastery for Culture and Education. The Institute convenes leaders from business, civil society, academia, government, and all faith and belief traditions, to promote deeper thought on technology’s impact on humanity.

Learn More