Being Ethical Online

If it says so online, it must be true!

That’s the challenge of researching and reporting facts you find on the internet. If you believe everything you see out there, then you might believe that if the article has been shared on Instagram a million times or the social media creator has a million followers, they both must be credible. Sometimes inaccurate information isn’t easy to identify and can sneak into our business communications if we’re not diligent in our fact-checking.

There are ethical considerations involved in posting content on the internet, as well as in using information sourced online. The internet presents challenges that can easily lead ethical communicators into complex dilemmas. It is advisable to be cautious when sharing information online and to maintain a critical approach towards the accuracy and reliability of information encountered on the internet.

Posting

Don’t post non-factual information on the internet, and if you do, promptly correct errors. When you post information online on behalf of your business, you owe your co-workers and all your external readers truthful information. When you communicate, you work hard to develop a relationship of trust with your audience, whether they’re reading you or listening to you speak. Passing along information that’s not trustworthy is damaging to your reputation as much as it’s damaging to your message.

Don’t post questionable information anonymously. Just because you don’t put your name on it doesn’t mean you’re not responsible for facilitating an incorrect, untruthful message. Again, you’re damaging the level of trust you’ve developed for yourself as well as a reader’s trust in the information.

Be careful about sharing proprietary information, information that violates patient confidentiality or attorney-client privilege. We talked a little earlier about how the lines between professional and personal communications are blurring. It’s easy to make a mistake and post a picture of yourself and your patient and say, “That kidney transplant has been very successful!” That’s not appropriate unless you have the correct forms from the patient saying it’s okay to release that information.

Using Materials from the Internet

Fact check information you pull off the internet. Sources like trusted news magazines and newspapers (e.g., The New York Times, The Economist, etc.) usually don’t publish until their facts have been checked and verified. However, if you find information on someone’s personal website, you should definitely research that data further. It’s your duty to your reader and your company to report data correctly. 

As a communication professional working for a business, you might use information from ChatGPT, Claude, or other artificial intelligence tools to help you write a business report. Given the potential for inaccuracies in machine-generated content, it’s important to verify information with reliable sources and correct any inaccuracies.

Don’t take things off the internet and use them as your own. If you do not acquire written material, images, or video someone else has posted to the internet in an appropriate manner, you are stealing—and stealing is unethical.  The legal doctrine of fair use allows limited use of copyrighted material without permission as long as the materials are used for the purpose of “criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research…”  Otherwise, your use of the material is considered a violation of copyright law. Look for the “creative commons” distinction on images and video to confirm that it’s appropriate for shared use.

Learn more about copyright, fair use, and how to tell if material can be used freely.