Self-censorship in social networking sites (SNSs) – privacy concerns, privacy awareness, perceived vulnerability and information management
| Pages | 375-394 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JICES-07-2018-0060 |
| Published date | 11 November 2019 |
| Date | 11 November 2019 |
| Author | Mark Warner,Victoria Wang |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information & communications technology |
Self-censorship in social
networking sites (SNSs) –privacy
concerns, privacy awareness,
perceived vulnerability and
information management
Mark Warner
UCL Interaction Centre, University College London, London, UK, and
Victoria Wang
Institute of Criminal Justice Studies, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to investigate behavioural changes related to self-censorship (SC) in social
networking sites (SNSs) as new methodsof online surveillance are introduced. In particular, it examinesthe
relationships between SC and four relatedfactors: privacy concerns (PC), privacy awareness (PA), perceived
vulnerability(PV) and information management (IM).
Design/methodology/approach –A national wide surveywas conducted in the UK (N= 519). The data
were analysedto presentboth descriptive and inferential statistical findings.
Findings –The level of online SC increases as the level of privacy concernincreases. The level of privacy
concernincreases as the levels of PA and PV increase and the level of effective IM decreases.
Originality/value –This study extends the literatureon online SC, showing that PCs increase the level of
SC in SNSs. It provides support for three antecedent factors to PC which impact upon levels of SC when
communicatingin SNSs.
Keywords Information management, Social networking sites (SNSs), Privacy concerns,
Perceived vulnerability, Privacy awareness, Self-censorship,
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The growth of social networking sites (SNSs) has challenged the management of personal
information and the notion of privacy (Xu, 2012). These personal data, shared and stored
online, could be used for different purposes and by different parties. Individuals are able to
conduct surveillanceand collect data on one another (Krasnova et al.,2009).Businesses have
developed new methods to exploit data for commercial advantages (Sun et al.,2016).
Governments have developed various bulk-surveillance technologies to scrutinise these
data (Lyon, 2015). Moreover, since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, governments’
electronic surveillance has grown exponentially. Snowden, 12 years on, revealed the extent
of this surveillance in a public releaseof sensitive documents detailing previously unknown
surveillance capabilities of governments, including those of the UK (MacAskill et al.,2013).
Post-Snowden, the public perception of threats to personal information online has openly
shifted from a predominant focus on commercial intelligence to government activities
related to the preventionand detection of security threats (Wilton, 2017).
Social
networking
sites
375
Received3 July 2018
Revised23 November 2018
Accepted10 February 2019
Journalof Information,
Communicationand Ethics in
Society
Vol.17 No. 4, 2019
pp. 375-394
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1477-996X
DOI 10.1108/JICES-07-2018-0060
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1477-996X.htm
The shift has generated a series of public debates concerning the balance between privacy
and security, resulting in three independent surveillance reviews in the UK (Anderson, 2015;
House of Commons, 2015;Royal United Services Institute, 2015) and the introduction of the
Investigatory Powers Bill, outlining new laws governing surveillance powers (gov.uk, 2016). A
better balance between security and privacy could be achieved by evaluating the social costs
that increased security and surveillance could generate. One such cost is the perceived need for
individuals to self-censor their online communication because of privacy concerns (PC)
(Richards, 2012). Previous studies have mainly focussed on self-censorship (SC) around
controversial events, such as US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria (Stoycheff, 2016), and discussions
related to NSA surveillance (Hampton et al., 2014). Liu et al. (2017) explored SC around political
views but tested its relationship with self-presentation behaviours not PC.
This research is to explore possible impacts that PC and its antecedent factors have on
UK residents’SC behaviours in SNSs, as new methods of surveillance are increasingly
penetrating every arena of the online world. A significant portion of the population in the
UK (and worldwide) now use SNSs to communicate. In a nation-widesurvey in the UK (N=
519) in 2016, we examined the relationshipsbetween SC and its four related factors: privacy
concerns (PC), privacy awareness (PA), perceived vulnerability (PV) and information
management (IM), using a developed conceptual model (see Figure 1). Particularly, it
evaluates the level of SC of UK residents in relation to PC in SNSs and measures possible
impacts of PA, PV and IM on individuals’behaviour in SNSs and how these relate to their
PC, and in turn, their SC. Our findings indicate that the level of online SC increases as the
level of privacy concern increases. The level of PC increases as the levels of PA and PV
increase, and the level of effective managementof information decreases. When evaluating
new types of surveillance and reviewingexisting surveillance policy (as occurred in the UK
post-Snowden), the benefits to security that these provide should be weighed against their
costs. The lack of academic research on social costs, e.g. SC, makes this challenging. Our
research on SC in SNSs as a socialcost of surveillance adds to the body of knowledge in this
area and can be used to facilitatefuture cost/benefit evaluations.
2. Self-censorship and its related factors –privacy concerns, privacy
awareness, perceived vulnerability and information management
SC may be understood as a behaviour that causes people to avoid or modifyself-disclosures
because of fear of negativesocial consequences and has been examined from organisational,
political and interpersonal perspectives (Byeon et al.,2017;Postmes et al., 2002). SC could
occur from fear of political authorities and influential organisations (Byeon and Chung,
2012;Sidhu, 2007) or from fear of being perceived negatively in certain social circles
(Stoycheff, 2016). Noelle-Neumann (1993,1974), in the Spiral of Silence, suggested that
through fear of being isolated, individuals self-monitor their environments to assess the
Figure 1.
The proposed
correlations
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