Open AccessOn the cyber-reputation of governments
Author(s) -
Ulrik Franke
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
international review of information ethics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2563-5638
DOI - 10.29173/irie340
Subject(s) - utilitarianism , reputation , normative , censorship , government (linguistics) , code of conduct , law and economics , code (set theory) , political science , politics , china , public relations , political economy , business , law , sociology , computer science , philosophy , linguistics , set (abstract data type) , programming language
Government censorship has a long history, as do attempt to motivate it. This paper offers an analysis of the proposal that states should agree to cooperate ”in curbing the dissemination of information that […] undermines other countries’ political, economic and social stability, as well as their spiritual and cultural environment”. This position was adopted in 2011 by the People’s Republic of China, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan in a proposed International code of conduct for information security. The code of conduct can be understood as an attempt to protect the cyber-reputations of states and incumbent governments from the impact of compromising information. The article examines the code of conduct from the perspectives of utilitarianism and moral rights theories. Despite some interesting minor exceptions, it is concluded that neither normative theory can fully endorse the proposed code of conduct.