Over the past years, there has been an upsurge in internet-related research leading to increased interest in ethical guidelines. According to Convery & Cox (2012), the Internet has opened many possibilities for people to do their research. The key issues associated with internet research are ethics approval and informed consent. According to Hooley et al. (2012), informed consent is one of the founding principles of research, and the regulations in other states are stipulated in various regulations and policies. However, it has become a challenge to operationalize the available policies of informed consent to apply to the web context. The essay will focus on informed consent as one issue arising during internet-based research.
Internet-based research has created many challenges for ethics committees and institutions. Researchers agree that the ethical guidelines regarding digital data still need to be attainable (Drolet et al., 2022). Hokke et al. (2018) support that the new digital spaces have made it necessary for researchers to rethink the ethical principles of privacy, informed consent, and anonymity. Examples of web-based data include data extracted from the online environment such as social networks such as Facebook, individual blog, and websites. The information from the platform is not distinct from the other form of research, such as interviews or surveys, which also have ethical guidelines like the offline counterparts.
Hokke et al. (2018) note that internet use and technology in the online world are dynamically changing since it is straightforward for a person to publish and create online content. Based on the broader aspect of rights in research. Drolet et al. (2022) indicate that research ethics has to balance between the risk and benefits, assuring the participant that their rights will be considered and there will be a fine selection of all the participants. The opportunities offered by the Internet raise many challenges, which include follow-up, verification of the identity of the participants, informed consent, ethical approval, and supporting vulnerable groups.
Convery & Cox (2012) defines ethics as the acceptable moral or rules of conduct. The online journals require ethical approval because they involve human subjects and thus must be under the Declaration of Helsinki and gain support from the ethics committee. The internet-based ethics has also to follow the same guidelines, with the ethics committee being able to weigh the possible risks associated with the local participants of the research. The major challenge is whether the ethics committee based in another country has a right to approve the information published online.
The primary principle related to research involving humans as participants require informed consent. The aspect of informed consent is outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki. Besides, Facebook states that all users must agree to adhere to the data use before creating an account. Therefore, the users give informed consent to participate in online research. Additionally, the Facebook user states that the information provided may be used for internal operations. However, informed consent does not apply to the study for external publication since it is difficult to promise those posting their information or data in scientific research.
Web-based research raises concerns regarding data protection and private participation. It can be challenging when data posted for a different purpose is used for the study. The central assumption is that the information has been on the Internet and public domain and thus can be considered the domain available for a particular purpose. Still, the participants must usually be aware of the assumption (Drolet et al., 2022). Individual countries such as the UK have the data protection Act, which controls the available use of private data and thus the need for a consensus on the use of internet-based data when the owner is aware that it is being used for the specific use especially when the participants come from a different country from the researcher or a particularly vulnerable group.
Researchers can obtain informed consent online by posting to the communities or contacting individual users and providing them with consent forms for signing. Hooley et al. (2012) believe that using online materials without the user’s consent is potentially damaging to the whole research process, especially if the person finds out the information is used without their permission. It is ethically acceptable for the researcher to capture and analyze any interactions and conversations in public without the owner’s consent, but the concept does not apply in online chatrooms (Hokke et al., 2018). It has to have the permission of the interested parties to avoid bridging their privacy. For instance, the USA’s European citizens enjoy personal data security due to the European Union Data Protection directive. Research participants have to understand why and how the research data is collected and the use of the data collected.
Research conducted by Drolet et al. (2022) collected data associated with white racists from white racist groups concerning violence against ethnic groups. The researcher carried out interviews with all participants in all the chat rooms. The primary argument was to avoid seeking informed consent to keep the research’s identity and purpose private from the study participants since it would have a deterred view. They gained approval on the consent that they used public forms, and the deception had to be necessary for the research to become conclusive. The identity of the respondents was well protected during the study.
There are challenges involved in obtaining consent from members on online platforms. Researchers must consult the terms and conditions highlighted in the electronic forums, which may affect the research process. However, in scenarios with no proper guidelines, the researcher needs to consult the moderator of the forums to gain permission to perform the research. Convery & Cox (2012) notes that the moderator’s permission cannot be viewed as the consent of all the group members. Despite the support obtained from individual contributors, it may still have some uncertainties. The ownership rights to data have to be addressed based on the terms and conditions, and moderators cannot legally consent to all the members regarding the research.
Similarly, seeking consent from the moderators may produce varied responses, creating ethical issues. Notably, other researchers seeking informed consent experienced unforeseen effects regarding the group processes (Hokke et al., 2018). However, contacting the participants of the groups will be considered to be spamming, which is against the ethics of members as they will feel that the researcher has invaded their privacy. Therefore, researchers have to view all the available options before using the data without the consent of the participants of the study.
The expectation of people on the privacy of online platforms, which the public can view, is different from offline communication. Drolet et al. (2022) argue that it is challenging to determine whether media users are aware of the public status of the information they have contributed. There is also a possibility of the information being watched by many people. Researchers indicate that people are more likely to give more information on the online platform than offline. The researchers argue that they should assess the privacy of the data provided by the participants and give a view of the information that has been shared to develop a clear technological understanding of the problem under discussion and be aware of the psychological perspective of all the participants.
According to the guidelines by AoIR, public forums are considered public compared to closed chat rooms. Acknowledging the publicity of the information collected gives less obligation to the researcher. Notably, the accessibility of public data online help in allowing the flow of information. Still, the researcher’s questions may make the information available on the web more accessible for people to access (Hooley et al., 2012)). Furthermore, these days the information provided online can stay for an extended period and be accessed by anyone who may need to use the data. Similarly, the web allows users to access posts, communication, and messages when stumbling through links and online searches.
Ethically, it is appropriate to maintain anonymity. The significant risk associated with online-based research is disclosing the identity of individuals, and the researcher is responsible for ensuring that the participants’ privacy is highly guarded. Complete anonymity may become a challenge, but it is advised that the researcher removes identifying data before publishing the research findings. However, some internet-based users may not want to remain anonymous; thus, the researcher will need to cite them in the publication of the data (Drolet et al., 2022).
The Internet is likely to become a data source for research. There is a need for guidance in ethical conduct when conducting the online based study, not only for the people who do the research but also for the editors. The guidelines must be put into perspective to ensure that the research conducted through the online platform meets ethical standards set for offline analysis. There must be an agreement on the best ethical practice for web-based research, even though it is difficult to reach a deal based on the wide range of data collected online without consent.
References
Convery, I., & Cox, D. (2012). A review of research ethics in internet-based research. Practitioner Research in Higher Education, 6(1), pp. 50-57.
Drolet, M. J., Rose-Derouin, E., Leblanc, J. C., Ruest, M., & Williams-Jones, B. (2022). Ethical Issues in Research: perceptions of Researchers, research ethics board members and research ethics experts. Journal of Academic Ethics, 1-24.
Hokke, S., Hackworth, N. J., Quin, N., Bennetts, S. K., Win, H. Y., Nicholson, J. M., … & Crawford, S. B. (2018). Ethical issues in using the Internet to engage participants in family and child research: A scoping review. PloS one, 13(9), e0204572.
Hooley, T., Marriott, J, & Wellens, J. (2012) What is Online Research?: Using the Internet for Social Science Research. London: Bloomsbury Academic (Chapter 3: Dealing with ethical issues in online research, pp. 25–38).
Social Research Association. (2021). Research Ethics Guidance. Retrieved September20, 2021.
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