Child pornography and deception on the internet: some ethical considerations
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14779960680000293 |
| Date | 01 November 2006 |
| Published date | 01 November 2006 |
| Pages | 205-213 |
| Author | John Weckert,Barney Dalgarno |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management |
Child pornography and deception on the
internet: some ethical considerations
INTRODUCTION
In 1960, Norbert Wiener, talking about automated
machines, wrote:
To be effective in warding off disastrous
consequences, our understanding of our
man-made machines should in general
develop pari passu with the performance of
the machine (1355)
What he is suggesting is that if we wait until the
technology has been developed, it may be too late
to avoid “disastrous consequences”. We should
develop understanding of machines in step with the
development of the performance of the machine.
There is some evidence that we do not understand
the Internet very well yet, certainly not as a tech-
nology that affects behaviour. It is argued here that
the Internet encourages certain behaviour, or more
neutrally, makes certain behaviour easier. This will
be done by considering briefly the relationship
between values and technology and through an
examination of online child pornography.
In September 2004, the Australian Federal Police
carried out a nationwide operation leading to the
charging of around 200 consumers, producers and
distributors of child pornography. This case,
Operation Auxin (SMH, 2004; AFP, 2004), high-
lights a number of ethical issues posed by the
Internet. Given that there appears to have been a
significant increase in these types of unethical
behaviour since access to the Internet became wide-
spread, one could ask whether the Internet itself is
partly to blame, in the sense of assisting pae-
dophiles to exploit children. If this is the case, what
if anything should or can be done about it? This
paper explores these questions, using Operation
Auxin as a case study.
VALUES AND THE INTERNET
According to Ortega Y Gasset, technology, that is
computers, mobile telephones, stone axes, spears
and so on can be defined as “…the improvement
Info, Comm & Ethics in Society (2006) 4: 205-213
© 2006 Troubador Publishing Ltd.
John Weckert
Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics, Charles Sturt University, Australia
Email: jweckert@csu.edu.au
Barney Dalgarno
School of Information Studies, Charles Sturt University, Australia
Email: bdalgarno@csu.edu.au
Technology facilitates certain behaviours. This underlies the argument that the Internet may not be as benign as we
might like to think. It is argued in this paper, through examination of the case of the capture of a large number of peo-
ple on charges of possession of child pornography, that the Internet constitutes a kind of unintentional entrapment.
Some consequences of this are explored.
Keywords: Paedophilia, child pornography, Internet, anonymity, entrapment
VOL 4 NO 4 OCTOBER 2006 205
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