Review the The Eight Key Questions (8KQ) handbook produced by James Madison University then answer the questions below.
" James Madison University (JMU). 2020. 8KQ Handbook."
Quickly peruse the article titled "Facebook has a new process for discussing ethics. But is it ethical?", paying particular attention to the “emotional contagion study”, then answer the question below.
A social media service has uncovered evidence to suggest that manipulating the nature and priority of the content a user sees in their social media feed could affect their emotional state. Being an unanticipated effect of their technology the social media company is considering exploratory research involving deliberately manipulating the content for a portion of the users, then monitoring and observing the subsequent impact.
Which of the 8 Key questions would be most relevant if users were not previously advised that they would become part of such research when they registered to use the service?
Liberty involves “How do I (we) show respect for personal freedom, autonomy, and consent?”. While users may have consented to terms and conditions when registering it is unlikely that they gave consent to be part of exploratory research of this nature. Conducting research on a user without that user’s consent would violate their liberty.