So we seem to agree on your second statement. Regarding the first: suppose that Charles designs a study that asks minors (or really anyone) to engage in civil disobedience. Perhaps he asks them to trespass, with a risk of arrest and an arrest record. For good reasons, like saving baby seals or giving persons of color seats at the lunch counter or something. Definitely illegal. But also highly ethical behavior on the part of the study subjects. ls Charles behaving unethically in asking them to behave highly ethically but illegally? Not really my rodeo, but I strongly suspect that the behavior is ethical all the way down. Cheers, DLB On 2018-01-10 22:07, Christopher J. Richter wrote:

Ah, but the question is not whether it is ethical for the minors to violate a (for them) non-binding agreement, but whether it is ethical for the presumably adult researcher to require it of them. And just because something is legal, that does not make it ethical.

Christopher J. Richter, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Communication Studies Hollins University Roanoke VA, USA

On Jan 10, 2018, at 11:37 PM, Dan L. Burk <dburk@uci.edu> wrote:

So, although I am not saying that the study design is ethical, or even necessarily a good idea, I would most definitely take issue with either the specific assertion that violating an adhesion contract is always unethical (it is called an adhesion contract for good reason), and with the more general assertion that violations of law are always unethical.

Also, non-trivially, the assertion is a non-sequitur: minors generally can't enter into binding contracts, so there is by definition no contract for them to violate.

None of that means you should go ahead and do it; only that if you decline to do so, it should be for some other reasons.

Cheers, DLB

Dan L. Burk Chancellor's Professor of Law University of California, Irvine ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2017-18 Fulbright Cybersecurity Scholar <b975a236.gif>

On 2018-01-10 09:28, Christopher J. Richter wrote: Dear Charles,

TOS agreements are most often legally binding. Requiring minors (indeed any study participant, but especially minors) to violate a legal contract, whether online or off, is unethical on the face of it.

Then there is the issue of deception, of whom and how interactions on the fake accounts are deceiving. Deception, by definition, undermines informed consent. Will those who are deceived be debriefed? If not, it's problematic.

Christopher J. Richter, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Communication Studies Hollins University Roanoke VA, USA

On Jan 10, 2018, at 4:44 PM, Charles M. Ess <c.m.ess@media.uio.no> wrote:

Dear AoIRists,

What are your thoughts regarding the following?

A research project involves a small number of students, legally minors - and requires that they set up fake FB accounts for the sake of role-playing in an educational context? Of course, fake accounts are a clear violation of the FB ToS.

I know we've discussed the ethics of researchers doing this (with mixed results, i.e., some for, some concerned).

But I'm curious what folk think / feel about this version of the problem.

Many thanks in advance, - charles -- Professor in Media Studies Department of Media and Communication University of Oslo <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html>

Postboks 1093 Blindern 0317 Oslo, Norway c.m.ess@media.uio.no _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org [1] Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org [2]

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-- -- Dan L. Burk Chancellor's Professor of Law University of California, Irvine ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 2017-18 Fulbright Cybersecurity Scholar Links: ------ [1] http://aoir.org [2] http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org