Deepfakes and Democracy (Theory): How Synthetic Audio-Visual Media for Disinformation and Hate Speech Threaten Core Democratic Functions.

Observers fear that deepfakes will shake the very foundations of democracy. Notwithstanding, in-depth scholarly analyses of deepfakes' political impact are rare, and do not consider theories of democracy. This contribution helps close this research gap, drawing on Warren's problem-oriented democracy theory, as well as theories of deliberative democracy and contributions on the role of trust in democracies. I identify three core functions of democratic systems and their normative foundations, namely empowered inclusion, collective agenda and will formation (supported by deliberation), and collective decision-making. Based on a literature and media analysis, I systematize different types of deepfakes serving either disinformation or hate speech and outline how they weaken core democratic functions and norms: Deepfakes impede citizens' empowered inclusion in debates and decisions that affect them, e.g. by hampering efforts to hold political representatives accountable or further marginalizing certain societal groups such as women or ethnic minorities. Deepfakes also undermine collective agenda and will formation by threatening the epistemic quality of deliberation as well as citizens' mutual empathy and respect. This culminates in a decreased legitimacy of collective decisions taken, which is additionally threatened by pervasive (but mostly speculative) fears of deepfake election manipulation. My analysis has implications for (future) governance efforts addressing deepfakes. Such efforts are increasing, e.g. on the part of social media platforms, but also (supra-)national regulatory bodies.

Media codes of ethics for health professionals and media professionals: a qualitative study.

Media is an opportunity for health professionals; however, it is not free of threats. Fixing the threats requires professional systematization through developing practical guidelines, which brings us to the goal this study was designed to achieve. The study was conducted qualitatively through literature review, semi-structured interviews, and a focus group discussion with health and media experts, as a result of which 486 codes were extracted and classified into 4 groups. The first group was addressed to media professionals and contained 126 codes in 5 categories: seeking and reporting the truth, harm minimization, integrity, independence, and respect for the rights of others. The second and third groups were addressed to health professionals, the former (150 codes) dealing with formal media, and the latter (190 codes) dealing with cyberspace. These groups were both categorized into 6 categories: scientific demeanor, beneficence, harm minimization, integrity, maintaining the dignity of the profession and professionals, and respect for the rights of others. The fourth group was addressed to the public audience and contained 20 codes categorized into 2 categories: ethics of belief, and ethics of (re-)publishing. Since the study was conducted during the pandemic/infodemic, the proposed codes can help reduce possible conflicts in similar future situations.

Media perception and trust among disaster survivors: Tsunami survivors' interaction with journalists, media exposure, and associations with trust in media and authorities.

A critical part of disaster communication is media coverage in the interface of the afflicted, media, and authorities. One communication key is building trust. Disaster survivors encounter journalists in a high-stress context, but little is known about their perceptions of these interactions and the subsequent media exposure. The aim of this study is to explore how survivors 6 years after a major disaster perceived their encounters with journalists and exposure in the media, as well as their level of trust in the media, compared with government and authorities. Data were used from a longitudinal study of Swedish tourists, repatriated from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, surveyed up to 6 years after the tsunami to assess posttraumatic stress (PTS) and effects on mental health. At 6 years after, the survey included questions about survivors' perceptions of journalist interactions (reported by n = 311), of their own media exposure (n = 177), and survivors' trust in media organizations and public authorities (n = 1,181). Tsunami survivors mainly perceived interactions with journalists as being professional. There were 14% who reported that the interactions were supportive and 17% that the interactions were a strain. Similarly, most participants had a neutral view concerning the subsequent media coverage or exposure, although 12% experienced media exposure as stressful and 12% reported that it had been involuntary. Finally, the survivors indicated higher confidence and trust in Swedish radio and TV as compared to the Swedish authorities, and the participants' level of trust in the media was associated with their perceptions of journalists, r = 0.34, p < 0.001, and media coverage, r = 0.47, p < 0.001. Disaster survivors mainly agreed with emotionally neutral statements about interacting with the media, the performance of journalists on site, and their own media exposure. Nonetheless, a substantial minority found the encounters and exposure to be negative, and the results suggest a link between personal experiences or perceptions and trust in the media.

Reliability and accuracy of varicocoele videos in YouTube.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the scientific impact of videos about varicocoele on YouTube. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Turkey in September 2020, and comprised YouTube videos related to varicocoele. The videos were divided into 2 groups according to their reliability and accuracy using the European Association of Urology Sexual and Reproductive Guidelines 2020. A 5-point modified reliability (DISCERN) tool, Global Quality Score, and Journal of the American Medical Association scores of each video were calculated. The user's engagements by total views, video-related comments, and "likes" and "dislikes" to the videos were compared. Data was analysed using SPSS 23. Results: Of the 151 videos assessed, 73(48.34%) were included; 36(49.3%) reliable and 37(50.7%) unreliable. All scores were significantly higher for reliable videos (p<0.05). The mean number of views was 108448±90567 for reliable and 392626±895897 for unreliable videos (p=0.044). The rates of "likes" and "dislikes" were similar between the groups, whereas the comment rate was significantly higher for reliable videos (p<0.05). Most of the videos 40(54.8%) were uploaded by medical advertisements or for-profit companies, while those uploaded by universities or professional organisations were 19(26%). CONCLUSIONS: Nearly half of the varicocoele-related videos on YouTube were unreliable, and the reliability of videos was not directly related to their popularity.

Safeguarding the Journalistic DNA: Attitudes towards the Role of Professional Values in Algorithmic News Recommender Designs.

In contrast to the extensive debate on the influence of algorithmic news recommenders (ANRs) on individual news diets, the interaction between such systems and journalistic norms and missions remain under-studied. The change in the relationship between journalists and the audience caused by the transition to personalized news delivery has profound consequences for the understanding of what journalism should be. To investigate how media practitioners perceive the impact of ANRs on their professional norms and media organizations' missions, and how these norms and missions can be integrated into ANR design, this article looks at two quality newspapers from the Netherlands and Switzerland. Using an interview-based approach conducted with practitioners in different departments (e.g. journalists, data scientists, and product managers), it explores how ANRs interact with organization-centred and audience-centred journalistic values. The paper's findings indicate a varying degree of prominence for specific values between individual practitioners in the context of their perception of ANRs. At the same time, the paper also reveals that some organization-centred (e.g. transparency) and most audience-centred (e.g. usability) values are viewed as prerequisites for successful ANR design by practitioners with different professional backgrounds.

Medio ambiente, medios de comunicación y psicología moral. Sobre el potencial de la convergencia disciplinaria en una bioética animal post-pandemia / Environment, media, and moral psychology. On the potential of disciplinary convergence in a post-pandemic animal bioethics

Desde los primeros meses de la pandemia de COVID-19 ha estado aconteciendo un llamativo fenómeno social: en diversos lugares del mundo grupos de personas procedieron a ahuyentar y/o exterminar colonias de murciélagos, suponiendo que dicha acción contribuiría a evitar posibles contagios cuando en realidad lo que hacía era empeorar la situación. Con el fin de analizar en profundidad este tipo de fenómenos sociales es necesario recurrir a disciplinas diversas como la ética ambiental, la ética de los medios de comunicación y la psicología moral. Según se argumentará en este artículo, un ámbito del saber que favorece la convergencia disciplinaria apropiada para abordar la complejidad de problemas como el recién mencionado, es una disciplina generalmente no muy visitada en las producciones vinculadas a la bioética general y a la ética animal, a saber, la bioética animal. En las conclusiones de este trabajo será posible evidenciar que esta disciplina muestra no sólo contribuir en el abordaje de las diversas aristas de problemas puntuales como la actual persecución de murciélagos, sino que beneficia un enfoque crítico a nivel meta-teórico y complementario a nivel transdisciplinario de ciertos puntos ciegos de las disciplinas interrelacionadas (AU)

Since the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, a striking social phenomenon has been taking place: in various parts of the world, groups of people proceeded to drive away and/or exterminate colonies of bats, assuming that such action would help to prevent possible infections when in fact it only made the situation worse. In order to analyse in depth such social phenomena, it is necessary to resort to diverse disciplines such as environmental ethics, media ethics and moral psychology. As will be argued in this article, one field of knowledge that favours the appropriate disciplinary convergence to address the complexity of problems such as the one mentioned, is a discipline that is generally not much visited in the productions linked to general bioethics and animal ethics, namely animal bioethics. In the conclusions of this article, it will be possible to show that this discipline not only contributes to the analysis of specific problems such as the current persecution of bats, but also that benefits from a critical approach of certain blind spots of the interrelated disciplines (AU)

Des dels primers mesos de la pandèmia de COVID-19 ha estat esdevenint un cridaner fenomen social: en diversos llocs del món, grups de persones van procedir a espantar i/o exterminar colònies de ratapinyades, suposant que aquesta acció contribuiria a evitar possibles contagis quan en realitat el que feia era empitjorar la situació. Amb la finalitat d'analitzar en profunditat aquest tipus de fenòmens socials és necessari recórrer a disciplines diverses com l'ètica ambiental, l'ètica dels mitjans de comunicació i la psicologia moral. Segons s'argumentarà en aquest article, un àmbit del saber que afavoreix la convergència disciplinària apropiada per a abordar la complexitat de problemes com l'acabat d'esmentar, és una disciplina generalment no gaire visitada en les produccions vinculades a la bioètica general i a l'ètica animal, a saber, la bioètica animal. En les conclusions d'aquest treball serà possible evidenciar que aquesta disciplina mostra no sols contribuir en l'abordatge de les diverses arestes de problemes puntuals com l'actual persecució de ratapinyades, sinó que beneficia un enfocament crític a nivell fiqui-teòric i complementari a nivell transdisciplinari d'uns certs punts cecs de les disciplines interrelacionades (AU)

The Issue of "Context": Data, Culture, and Commercial Context in Social Media Ethics.

One of the central concerns in research ethics in recent years has been the vast amount of data available from social media platforms and the related concerns around what establishes an ethical use of data. Toward addressing these challenges, researchers have therefore called for the consideration of "context" in Internet research. However, context remains a fuzzy concept and little guidance exists on its different dimensions. In response to this issue, this article uses worked examples from three data sets to discuss three different dimensions of "context": data context, cultural context, and commercial context. The article problematizes these dimensions and offers suggestions toward creating ethical sensibility to these by drawing on two data sets from 2017: (a) climate change imagery scraped from five social platforms and (b) digital-ethnographic work at the climate summit COP23.