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DigitalCommons@SHU
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Computer Science & Information Technology
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3-2002
Herman T. Tavani
Rivier College
Recommended Citation
Grodzinsky, Frances, Tavani, Herman T. "Some Ethical Reflections on Cyberstalking." ACM SIGCAS Computers and Society 32.1
(2002): 22-32.
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Some Ethical Reflections on Cyberstalking
Frances S. Grodzinsky
Sacred Heart University has c o m e to be associated w i t h one i n d i v i d u a l ("the
<grodzinskyf@sacredhearcedu> stalker ~) c l a n d e s t i n e l y t r a c k i n g t h e m o v e m e n t a n d
w h e r e a b o u t s of an a n o t h e r i n d i v i d u a l or individuals
Herman T. Tavani ("the stalkee[s]~).
Rivier College
<htavani@rivier.edu> Cyberstalking can be u n d e r s t o o d as a f o r m of behav-
ior in w h i c h certain types o f stalking-related activi-
ties, which in the past have occurred in physical space,
Abstract are extended to the online world. O n the one hand,
T h e present study examines • range of moral issues asso- we do n o t wish to claim that cyberstalking is a new
ciated with recent cyberstalking cases. Particular atten- kind of crime or that it is a "genuine c o m p u t e r crime"
tion is centered on the A m y Boyer/Liam Youens case of (see Tavani, 2 0 0 0 ) . O n the o t h e r h a n d , we believe
cyberstalking, which raises a host of considerations that t h a t the I n t e r n e t has m a d e a relevant difference be-
we believe have a significant impact for ethical behavior cause of the way stalking activities can n o w be carried
on the Internet. A m o n g the questions we consider are out (see Grodzinsky and Tavani, 2001). For example,
those having to do with personal privacy and the use of I n t e r n e t s t a l k e r s can o p e r a t e a n o n y m o u s l y or
certain kinds of Internet search facilities to stalk indi- p s e u d o n o n y m o u s l y w h i l e o n l i n e . In a d d i t i o n , a
viduals in cyberspace. Also considered are questions hav- cyberstalker can stalk one or m o r e individuals f r o m
ing to do with legal liability and (possible) moral re- the c o m f o r t of his living room, and thus n o t have to
sponsibility that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have v e n t u r e out into the physical world to carry o u t his
for stalking crimes that occur in their %pace" on the task. So I n t e r n e t t e c h n o l o g y has m a d e possible cer-
Internet. Finall~ we examine issues of moral responsi- tain modes of stalking that w o u l d not have been pos-
bility for individual online users to determine which ob- sible in the p r e - I n t e r n e t era.
ligations, if any, they might have to inform persons who
are targeted by cyberstalkers, when it is in their power M a n y people are c o n c e r n e d a b o u t the k i n d and the
tO do so. n u m b e r of stalking-related activities that n o w occur
in cyberspace. T h e r e are m a n y reasons w h y these in-
Keywords dividuals w o u l d seem justified in their concern. Be-
Cyberstalking, personal privacy, search engines, ISPs, cause stalking crimes are n o t fully understood in terms
moral responsibility, and duty to assist of their conceptual boundaries and their implications,
it is t h a t m u c h m o r e difficult to u n d e r s t a n d clearly
1. INTRODUCTION: STALKING ACTIVITIES w h a t it w o u l d m e a n to stalk s o m e o n e in cyberspace.
IN CYBERSPACE In the cyber-realm, for example, there are no physi-
W h a t exactly is c y b e r s t a l k i n g , and h o w exactly do cal-space criteria that are strictly analogous to those
stalking incidents in cyberspace raise concerns for eth- in physical space.
ics? I n a n s w e r i n g these q u e s t i o n s , we begin w i t h a
definition of stalking in general. According to Webster's O n e difficulty in u n d e r s t a n d i n g some of the essential
New World Dictionary of the American Language, one features of cyberstalking crimes is that these crimes
definition of stalking is ~to pursue or approach game, sometimes border on, and thus become confused with,
an enemy, etc. stealthily, as f r o m cover." In an ex- broader forms of "harassment crimes." Consider a re-
t e n d e d sense o f stalking, as applied to c r i m i n a l ac- c e n t i n c i d e n t i n v o l v i n g t w e n t y - y e a r old C h r i s t i a n
tivities involving h u m a n beings, a "stalking activity" H u n o l d , w h o was charged w i t h terrorizing T i m o t h y
Uniqueness advocates can also point to issues having to Although each of the issues briefly described in the pre-
do with the aspects o f stalking having to do with the ceding paragraph have significant ethical implications,
scale or number of stalking crimes now made possible by and while each might deserve deeper philosophical analy-
cyber-technology. For example, a stalker can roam the sis, we will limit our discussion in this section o f our
Internet anonymously, or under a certain alias (pseud- paper to three ethical concerns involving the A m y Boyer
onym), which makes it m u c h more difficult for law-en- case. First, we consider the issue of threats posed to po-
forcement agents to track down that stalker, either be- tential cyberstalking victims because of the unrestricted
fore or after the stalker has caused physical harm to his use of Internet search engines. We then consider ques-
victim. Because of the ease of electronic stalking, indi- tions o f legal liability a n d m o r a l r e s p o n s i b i l i t y in
viduals who might never have considered stalking a vic- cyberstalking incidents for I n t e r n e t Service Providers
tim in physical space might be tempted to engage in one (ISPs). Finally, we consider the role of individual moral
or m o r e stalking activities in virtual space. These and responsibility for Internet users who find themselves in a
other factors, it could be further argued, contribute to position to inform a fellow user that she is being stalked.
the possibility of stalking crimes occurring on a scale that
would not likdy have been possible prior to the advent
of the Internet. It has also been argued that cyberstalking
activities have significant implications for a range of ethi-
Let us now take up the question o f individual moral obli- Josef Pieper (1966) has argued that the concept of moral
gation and ask, what responsibilities Internet users have obligation is one that is not only "personal" but also linked
to inform ~would-be victims" of their immanent danger to one's community. For Peiper, "doing good" is more
to online stalkers? For example, if an Internet user had than obeying some abstract n o r m (i.e., some Kantian
been aware of Boyer's situation, should that user have abstract notion of duty and universality). Rather, it is
notified Boyer that she was being stalked? In other words, about the individual's relationship to other individuals
should that user be under a moral obligation to do so? If and to the community itself. Carol Gilligan (1982) first
we want to be responsible, or at least caring citizens, in proposed a position similar to Peiper's in a theory of femi-
cyberspace, the answer would seem to be yes. It would nist ethics. Both Pieper and Gilligan suggest that justice
not be morally permissible to wait for stalking activities is a complex concept that goes far beyond the notion of
to move into physical space before we took any action. an individual simply obeying laws. Instead, justice in-
volves the relationship of individuals, including their in-
Various proposals for controlling individual behavior in dividual moral obligations to one another. In the writ-
online society have resulted in a conflict between those ings of both Peiper and Gilligan, despite their very dif-
who wish to regulate by law and those who wish to pre- ferent objectives, can be found the basis for the thesis
serve the practice of sdf-regulation. O f course, this dis- that individuals are interconnected and that these indi-
pute is sometimes also at the base of arguments involv- vidual relationships play a primary role in the develop-
ing claims having to do with a "safe" social space vs. "re- ment of the concept of moral responsibility. The notion
strictive ~ one. In the case of cyberstalking, should our of moral obligation is seen as extending beyond the self
duty, if we have one, to assist others be based on legal to others, both in Pieper's concept of ~commutative jus-
regulations or should it rest on grounds of individual tice" and Gilligan's "ethic of care~. This "ethic of care,"
moral obligation to assist others? as it is labeled in feminist ethics, is more than a mere
"non-interference ethic." Rather, it is concerned with
What exactly is meant by ~moral obligation? ~ Histori- "what is above and beyond the floor of duty"(Held, 1995).
cally, philosophers have offered diverse, and sometimes Based on the belief that care and justice are part of the
competing, definitions of what is meant by this expres- same moral framework, it has been aargued that individu-
sion. An Internet user consulting a dictiona~ to locate a als have a moral obligation to assist others and to prevent
colloquial definition would likely discover one similar to harm. From this perspective, individuals would be com-
the following: ~[moral obligation is] founded on the fun- pelled to act from a basis of moral obligation, even though
damental principles of right conduct rather than on le- there may be no specific laws or rules to prescribe such
galities enactment or custom" (Random House, 1973). actions.
O f course, philosophers have attempted to give us far
more rigorous definitions of ~moral obligation." An in-
teresting question is whether our notion of moral obliga-
5.1 A Minimalist S e n s e of Moral We can draw an analogy between the Genovese case and
Obligation the Boyer case. The world of cyberspace with its atten-
Some have argued that while morality can demand of an dant anonymity makes it easy for those who wish to avoid
agent that he or she "do no harm" to others, it cannot a duty to assist. But, what will cyberspace become, if
require the agent to actively "prevent harm" or "do good." people do not take their moral obligations seriously? Is
In one sense, to do no harm is to act in accordance with our obligation merely to do no harm? Pieper, Gilligan
moral obligation. But is doing so always sufficient for and Vedder would answer no. We can see that balancing
complying with what is required of us as moral agents? thc h a r m that could come from doing nothing, which
In other words, if it is in our power to prevent harm and would cause considerable danger to the victim, against
to do good, should we always be required to do so? And, the level of inconvenience caused to self, which would be
if the answer to this question is yes, what are the grounds minimal, is yet another motivation for Internet users to
for such a theory of obligation. assist. In the case of Barber and Ddlapenta, Barber's fa-
ther with the cooperation of the men who were soliciting
There are a number of theoretical perspectives that would her, provided evidence that led to Ddlapenta's arrest. In
support the view that individuals should prevent harm the case of A m y Boyer, however, the sense of individual
(and otherwise do good) whenever it is in their power to moral responsibility was not apparent since certain online
do so. For example, if one believes, as some natural law users had indeed viewed the Youens' Web site and did
theorists assert, that the purpose of morality is to allevi- not inform Amy Boyer that she was being stalked. As in
ate human suffering and to promote human flourishing, the case of Kitty Genovese, Boyer was also murdered.
whenever possible, then dearly we would seem obligated Was Boyer's d e a t h an online m a n i f e s t a t i o n o f the
to prevent harm in cyberspace. For an interesting account "Genovese syndrome?"
of this type of moral theory, see Louis Pojman (2001).
Unfortunately, we are not able to develop Pojman's argu- In light of what happened to A m y Boyer, we suggest
ment here, since doing so would take us beyond the scope that online users adopt a notion of individual responsi-
of this paper. But we can at least now see how, based on bility to assist others. D o i n g so would help to keep
a model like Pojman's, one might develop a fuller theory cyberspace a safer place for everyone, but especially those
in which individuals have an obligation to prevent harm who are particularly vulnerable: w o m e n and children.
or a "duty to assist." O f course, we recognize the difficul- O n e might argue that, the threat to Boyer was virtual
ties of defending a natural law theory; and we are not J i.e., since the threat was not in physical space, it
prepared to do so here. However, we also believe that the need not have been taken seriously. To accept this argu-
kind of limited or "moderate" natural law theories that m e n t , we w o u l d have to assume that no threats in
cyberspace have ever resulted in harm to or in the death