期刊名称：Informing Science: The International Journal of an Emerging Transdiscipline
印刷版ISSN：1547-9684
电子版ISSN：1521-4672
出版年度：2004
卷号：7
页码：47-47
出版社：Informing Science Institute
摘要：This paper considers insights and lessons learnt surrounding the spread of misinformation resulting
from a hoax email sent in South Africa on September 11, 2001. That email purported to link
South Africans to the World Trade Center disaster in New York on 9/11. This paper discuses a
case study based on the South African newspaper press coverage this incident received. The factual
contents are provided in the form of a time line, followed by the grouping of stakeholders and
a list of stakeholder comments of an ethical, social, or legal nature. Subsequently, the paper explores
various ethical perspectives, employs different approaches to ethical analysis, and reaches
an ethical conclusion regarding this incident. This is followed by a brief investigation of the perceived
divergence of the ethical and legal perspectives. The paper concludes by expressing the
hope that this case study, and the analysis thereof, will assist computing instructors in sensitizing
their students to computer ethics issues related to misinformation, the use of email and the Internet.
关键词：Misinformation, hoax email, computer ethics, South Africa, computer ethics teaching,
case study
