1 Ethical issues arising for Internet users Steve Matthews Senior Research Fellow Plunkett Centre for Ethics Early draft 2023 ABSTRACT Ethically, what happens when our social, political, and commercial activities transfer to the virtual environment? In such an environment self-presentations and interpersonal engagement are subject to digital filters, new forms of anonymity are enabled, and the nature of accountability and trust must be re-imagined. The internet presents us with a dual use problem – in which the same technology can be used for harm and for good – as well as a problem in which online and offline practices intersect, thereby creating novel ethical difficulties. The incremental evolution of the new online normativity means that agents online easily lose sight of what is morally at stake in how they act there, as well as how they may be targeted. These considerations provide the framework used here for analyzing many of the most recent ethical problems and issues. These include: (1) persuasive technologies, such as micro-targeting, e-nudges, digital choice architecture, and gamification; (2) cyberhate, including such categories as trolling, or flaming; (3) online scams, including phishing, lottery scams, or romance scams; (4) virtuality, which raises a dilemma for deciding what is harmful, as well as questions concerning the genuineness of online relationships and identity; (5) information control and flow, with issues for internet freedom versus censorship, surveillance, cybersecurity, and cyberwar; and (6) digital attacks on democracy, especially algorithmic manipulation of data feeds. ~