Ethical Concerns of Social Media in Terms of Islam

There is no doubt that social media has made social communications easy and convenient. However, by doing so, it has also exposed its users to deception and scam. Increased usage of social media has raised a number of ethical concerns which need to be addressed immediately as social media has become an integral part of our daily routine, worldwide. This is evident from the fact that Facebook. com, which is one such social network, has 2. 2 billion active monthly users which is about 30% of world population. Privacy invasion is one of the biggest concerns. We broadcast our personal lives on social media without any hesitation. We share personal photos and details of our daily lives. Although we can control the audience for our posts, we have no way of knowing if that audience is respecting your privacy or not. People taking screen shots of personal conversation with someone or saving their photos without their consent and sharing with others has become so common that it is not even considered unethical anymore. Our activities on social media are tracked by advertising companies to be used in re-targeting campaigns. Although it has benefits, it is still a form of privacy breach. ‘Stalking’ individuals in real life and gathering information isn’t welcomed however it’s done every day on social media sites, so why is it acceptable through a cyber-platform?

Prophet Muhammad (P. B. U. H) said: "A Qattat will not enter Paradise". While using social media, people often think they can say whatever they want under the disguise of ‘freedom of expression’. However, it often used unethically to spark off hatred, which can be religious hatred, political hatred or racial hatred etc. Islam has taught us to be tolerant towards others in following words: “For you is your religion, and for me is my religion”.

People often make derogatory remarks and comments about others on social media for the sole purpose of making others laugh. Jokes are shared publicly about prominent and respected figures. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) prohibited mockery, taunting and spreading hate in the following words: “The believer does not taunt others, he does not curse others, he does not use profanity, and he does not abuse others. ” Sunan al-Tirmidhī 1977Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq says: “Cursing and abusing is from cruelty and cruelty is punishable by hell. ” At the same time, people’s right of freedom of speech is not respected on social media. Social media is used many times for bullying others, which is clearly forbidden in Quran: “O you who believe! Let not a group scoff at another group, it may be that the latter are better than the former; nor let (some) women scoff at other women, it may be that the latter are better than the former, nor defame one another, nor insult one another by nicknames. ”

There is no method to confirm the authenticity of social networking activities of users. Therefore people go as far as representing themselves as someone they are not. Numerous fake accounts exist on social media where people pretend to be someone else, often a celebrity. Companies make false claims and sometimes they even hire people to give their product excellent but fake reviews. This is a form of lying and lying is strictly forbidden in Islam in following words: In their hearts is disease, so Allah has increased their disease; and for them is a painful punishment because they habitually used to lie.

Copyright infringement

Certain items of media, such as books, movies and music are available for all to enjoy and to even download. Such items of media which are copyrighted are not in the public domain, therefore it is illegal to download and distribute them. Unfortunately, online piracy has increased extensively and has become difficult to track, so it often goes without consequence. Islam has laid great importance on individual rights hence it is forbidden to use something that belongs to others without their permission. Quran says“And eat up not one another’s property unjustly (in any illegal way, e. g. stealing, robbing, deceiving”

Privacy and Security

Islam lays great stress on respecting privacy. This is conspicuous from these verses of the Holy Quran: ‘Do not spy on one another’, ‘Do not enter any houses except your own homes unless you are sure of their occupants' consent’. Day by day, technology is becoming more and more intrusive in our personal lives. We have developed a habit of storing our personal information in our cell phones and laptops that range from being contact numbers, pictures, personal messages and emails to bank accounts and credit card numbers. By doing so, we are putting our information at risk from strangers, hackers and identity thieves. It is understood that we do need that personal information from time to time. However it would be naive to assume that our information is safe and can be deleted permanently if we wish to do so, as it has been shown many times that deleted information can retrieved.

Hacking is perhaps the biggest ethical concern of technology. An unethical hack is one that is managed without the objective of the hack monitoring it. Usually done to break into a system framework to take data or cash, and sometime to cause harm by embedding an infection or malware program. Deceptive hacking is illegal, and the individuals who take part in the demonstration are thought about as digital lawbreakers. Probably the most well-known black hat hackers are Gary McKinnon, Jonathan James and Adrian Lamo. McKinnon's hacking assault on the US government PC framework has stood out forever as the biggest hack on US government PC frameworks and caused a harm of US$700. 000. He hacked the frameworks since he endeavored to discover mystery material about UFOs. Jonathan James' goal was not data but rather cash. He stole software worth US$1. 7 million from NASA at 15 years old. Other than he hacked into the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). Adrian Lamo is known for hacking into some enormous PC systems like Microsoft, Yahoo!, The New York Times and MCI WorldCom. In the light of Islam as well Allah s. w. t has disallowed human from abusing other individuals' rights, for example, doubt, misrepresentation and theft. This issue is plainly demonstrated in the sections of AL-Quran which forbid human to carry on with terrible moralities. It additionally negates the fundamental motivation behind Prophet Rasulullah (P. B. U. H) as the Messenger of Allah, which is to give a living case of good moralities for human to pursue. Prophet Muhammad (P. B. U. H) said: "I have been sent to compliment the good moralities". Then again, PC wrongdoing is one of the issues that picks up our worry in the present cyber world.