A Normative Framework for Sharing Information Online

Abstract

People have always shared information through chains and networks of testimony. It is arguably part of what makes us human and enables us to live in cooperative communities with populations greater than 150 or so. The invention of the internet and the rise of social media have turbocharged our ability to share information. This chapter develops a normative epistemic framework for sharing information online. This framework takes into account both ethical and epistemic considerations that are intertwined in typical cases of online testimony. The authors argue that, while the current state of affairs is not entirely novel, recent technological developments call for a rethinking of the norms of testimony, as well as the articulation of a set of virtuous dispositions that people would do well to cultivate in their capacity as conduits (not just sources or receivers) of information.