Research conducted at the Oxford Internet Institute and with Harvard’s Berkman Klein Centre that offers a new definition of cyberterrorism and examines ethical questions raised by the digitalization of education.

Beyond Kinetic Harm and towards a Dynamic Conceptualization of Cyberterrorism

This article was originally published in Journal of Information Warfare in June 2021. A preprint is available on arxiv.

Abstract

After more than two decades of discussion, the concept of cyberterrorism remains plagued by confusion. This article presents the result of an integrative review which maps the development of the term and situates the epistemic communities that have shaped the debate. After critically assessing existing accounts and highlighting the key ethical, social, and legal dimensions at stake in preventing cyberterrorist attacks, it calls for a more dynamic conceptualization that views cyberterrorism as more abstract, difficult to predict, and hard to isolate; and which embraces a different conception of sufficient harm. In concluding it proposes a novel definition of cyberterrorism, intended to catalyse a new research programme, and sketches a roadmap for further research.

Cite: Straub, V.J. Beyond Kinetic Harm and towards a Dynamic Conceptualization of Cyberterrorism. Journal of Information Warfare 20, 3 (2021). https://www.jstor.org/stable/27124996

Digital Ethics in Times of Crisis: COVID-19 and Access to Education and Learning Spaces

This report was a collaborative contribution by the participants in an “Ethics of Digitalization” Research Sprint and originally published by the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University on 8 Februrary 2021.

Abstract

At this moment and intersectionality, digital technologies highlight both opportunities and possibly long-lasting challenges that have profound ethical implications for decades to come: At its best, digital technology can be used during COVID-lockdowns to promote and support learning across spheres and barriers. At its worst, digital technologies create new inequalities between digital haves and have-nots and amplify surveillance concerns. Berkman Klein’s Fall 2020 Research Sprint — “Digital Ethics in Times of Crisis: COVID-19 and Access to Education and Learning Spaces” — examined the ethical, human rights, and societal aspects of digital transformation with an emphasis on education and learning at a moment of unprecedented crisis when both young people and adult learners around the globe are deeply affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Sprint brought together a cohort of approximately 40 student participants from 21 different countries spread over five continents, under a project led by the Global Network of Internet & Society Centers on the Ethics of Digitalization. The project aims to cultivate dialogue and action at the intersection of science, politics, the digital economy, and civil society broadly. The larger initiative is conducted under the patronage of German Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and is supported by Stiftung Mercator.

Cite: Participants in an Ethics of Digitalization Research Sprint. (2021). Digital ethics in times of crisis: COVID-19 and access to education and learning spaces. Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. Retrieved from https://cyber.harvard.edu/publication/digital-ethics-times-crisis-covid-19-and-access-education-andlearning-spaces