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Catholic Internet Ethics
Summarizing the conclusions and recommendations
given by the Vatican document "Ethics in Internet"
Under the administration of John Paul II, the Pontifical Council for Social
Communications came out with a document "Ethics in Internet" last February 22,
2002. This article will summarize in outline form the recommendations and
conclusions given in that document so as to help all Catholics in the Internet
with a guideline in producing their websites with Catholic content and materials.
* * * Catholic internet ethics is based on the premise
of using
the internet to serve the common good. * * *
Guidelines to help Catholic
website owners and webmasters
- Use of the Internet (for all users)
- To use it in an informed way
- To use it in a disciplined way
- To use it for morally good purposes
- Parents should guide and supervise their children's use
- Schools and other educational institutes would best serve the common good
by training children and adults from the context of a discerning Christian mind
and heart and not only in terms of technical know-how
- All others belonging to different organizations and institutes are called
to practice solidarity with the teaching of the Catholic church that the
world is better served if the Internet is placed at the service of the
common good
Catholic internet ethic guidelines for those in government
- "censorship...should only be used in the very last extremity"
- reasonable laws must be made against:
- hate speech
- libel
- fraud
- child pornography
- pornography in general and other offenses
- criminal behavior in general
- dissemination of viruses
- theft of personal data stored on hard disks
Ethical guidelines
for those in the Internet industry
- in principle, industry self-regulation is best
- regulation is more according to criteria of public service and greater
public accountability
- an industry code of ethics must carry appropriate penalties for violations,
including public censure
- if state intervention is necessary, setting up media advisory boards would
be most helpful
Catholic internet
ethics within an international and global context
- international cooperation in setting standards and establishing mechanisms
to promote and protect the international common good
- a greater sensitivity is asked of the international community as regards the
great digital divide between the information poor sector and information rich
sector
- a need to guarantee the privacy of law-abiding individuals and groups
- ways to protect copyright and intellectual property rights without limiting
access to the public domain (and how to define the public domain)
- how to provide information in a variety of languages
- how to protect women's rights
- how to close the digital divide between the information rich and the
information poor
- there is a call to greater cooperation between international agencies
and non-governmental organizations to ensure the interest of states
The Church does not dictate all of the Catholic internet ethics given as
guidelines in the document "Ethics in Internet". It rather seeks to be of
help by giving its ethical and moral criteria - criteria which is based on
both human and Christian values.
July 13, 2005
Dennis-Emmanuel Cabrera
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