Ethical Decision Making and the Internet

Behind a screen, it seems as though there are no limits to what Internet users can say or post no matter how harsh the statement can be. Additionally, regardless of the inappropriateness of any meme or tweet, there will always be sides to who is right and who is wrong due to the vast range of races, backgrounds, gender, and age of the people on the Internet. As certain statements can simply poke fun at a person or event, other statements may cause more harm than good. As a result, even disguised behind a vague username, it is imperative that all Internet users understand and practice ethical decision making.
Looking at one recent example, upon Donald Trump's inauguration, Saturday Night Live writer Katie Rich posted a tweet saying, "Barron Trump will be America's first homeschool shooter."



In response, Melissa Earnest, a Trump supporter, posted on Facebook a long defense of Barron Trump, claiming that regardless if you agree with the Trump campaign or not, Barron is still a growing child who is "off limits." Since then, Katie Rich has been suspended from SNL and Earnest's post has been shared over two million times (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/23/arts/television/katie-rich-snl-suspended-barron-trump-tweet.html?_r=0).
In this incident, it seems as though Earnest took a rights approach in her ethical decision making process to defend Barron Trump. As the reading states, the rights-approach in ethics advocates the protection of "the ethical rights of those who are affected by the action," emphasizing that "all humans have a right to dignity" and should be treated the same (Making Choices: A Framework for Making Ethical Decisions).
While I do not support Trump, I, as well as thousands of other non-Trump supporters, have shared this common agreement that the attack on Barron Trump was unnecessary and harmful. While some may defend Rich claiming that her intention was to simply make people laugh, it is clear that many did not take it as so. In this situation, because Earnest is by no means directly related to the Trumps, I believe that her defense of Barron was supererogatory. This is because though she is not responsible for the well-being of Barron, her defense was still helpful and "right to do" (Making Choices: A Framework for Making Ethical Decisions). However, as a country looking out for each neighbor, I believe that it was everyone's ethically obligatory duty to support this defense of Barron and set the correct example for others to treat innocent children as they should be treated. More specifically, it is our responsibility as a nation to put an end to bullying and online harassment, and it would be wrong not to do it.
For this reason, it is important for Internet users to develop more sensitivity to what they should or should not post in order to prevent incidents such as this one from happening again.