Rafael Capurro: Intercultural Information Ethics

The ethical perspective on intercultural aspects of the global digital network is a normative as well as a formative one. The symposium addresses the question of how people with different cultural backgrounds integrate the Internet in their lives. This concerns in the first place community building. How far does the Internet affect, for better or worse, local community building? How far does it allow democratic consultation? How do people construct their lives within this medium? How does it affect their customs, languages, and everyday problems? The question about information justice is thus not just an issue of giving everybody access to the global network (a utopian goal?), but rather an issue on how the digital network helps people to better manage their lives while avoiding the dangers of exploitation and discrimination.