Journal
BUSINESS ETHICS QUARTERLY
Volume 31, Issue 3, Pages 321-359Publisher
CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS
DOI: 10.1017/beq.2020.32
Keywords
social network addiction; internet addiction disorder; technology ethics; internet ethics; design ethics; exploitation
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Social media companies often design platforms that are addictive, causing serious public health concerns. The authors argue that social media addiction is a serious moral issue, as it harms users and is exploitative.
Social media companies commonly design their platforms in a way that renders them addictive. Some governments have declared internet addiction a major public health concern, and the World Health Organization has characterized excessive internet use as a growing problem. Our article shows why scholars, policy makers, and the managers of social media companies should treat social media addiction as a serious moral problem. While the benefits of social media are not negligible, we argue that social media addiction raises unique ethical concerns not raised by other, more familiar addictive products, such as alcohol and cigarettes. In particular, we argue that addicting users to social media is impermissible because it unjustifiably harms users in a way that is both demeaning and objectionably exploitative. Importantly, the attention-economy business model of social media companies strongly incentivizes them to perpetrate this wrongdoing.
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