The document outlines a task for students to watch the Netflix documentary 'The Social Dilemma' and submit a response addressing various ethical issues raised within it by September 29, 2020. It emphasizes the impact of social media on society, including concerns about polarization, fake news, and the design of technology that manipulates user attention. Students are instructed to explore the role of different stakeholders in social media and whether regulation is necessary to address ethical challenges.

1. Most of our class readings and discussions to date have dealt
with the issue of ethics and ethical behavior. Various
philosophers have made contributions to jurisprudence
including how to apply ethical principles (codes of conduct?) to
ethical dilemma.
Your task is to watch the Netflix documentary ‘The Social
Dilemma.’ If you cannot currently access Netflix it offers a free
trial opportunity, which you can cancel after viewing the
documentary. Should this not be an option for whatever reason,
then please email me and we will create an alternative ethics
question.
DUE DATE: Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020 by noon
SEND YOUR NO MORE THAN 5 PAGE DOUBLE SPACED
RESPONSE TO MY EMAIL ADDRESS. LATE PAPERS
SUBJECT TO DOWNGRADING
As critics have written, the documentary showcases ways our
minds are twisted and twirled by social media companies like
Facebook, Twitter, and Google through their platforms and
search engines, and the why of what they are doing, and what
must be done to stop it.
After watching the movie, respond to the following questions in
the order given. Use full sentences and paragraphs, and start off
each section by stating the question you are answering. Be
succinct.
What are the critical ethical issues identified?

2. What concerns are raised over the polarization of society and
promulgation of fake news?
What is the “attention-extraction model” of software design and
why worry?
What is “surveillance capitalism?”
Do you agree that social media warps your perceptions of
reality?
Who has the power and control over these social media
platforms – software designers, artificial intelligence (Ai),
CEOs of media platforms, users, government?
Are social media platforms capable of self-regulation to address
the political and ethical issues raised or not? If not, then should
government regulate?
What other actions can be taken to address the basic concern of
living in a world “…where no one believes what’s true.”