Jason Thacker joined Dawn & Steve Mornings (Moody Radio) to discuss ethical issues in technology for 2022.
Listen to the full interview here.
By Lindsay Nicolet / Jan 4
For the past few years, I have had the opportunity to highlight some of the top ethical issues in technology to be aware of as we begin a new year. In 2021, I wrote about the concerning trends of content moderation — especially in regards to free speech and religious freedom in the digital public square — as well as the growing concerns over facial recognition technologies and the ongoing debate over personal privacy. While many of these same issues will likely carry over into 2022, some have given way to larger concerns about pervasive surveillance, in addition to the threat of digital authoritarianism around the world.
For all of the good uses of technology, it has profound and consequential effects on us as humans. It shapes us in particular ways, including how we see and engage with those around us. While many today are reframing what it means to be human, Christians know that every person is created in God’s image and has inherent dignity. Furthermore, we know that our identity is rooted in God our Creator and that we are to love him and love our neighbor as ourselves (Matt. 22:37-39). This question of human identity is a central to many of the top ethical issues of the day, especially in our technologically rich society.
If 2021 taught us anything, it is that we need to take these particular ethical issues seriously. The church needs to understand that technology is becoming one of the primary disciplers of our people, forming us in ways that we may never fully understand. In light of these realities, here are four of the top issues to keep an eye on in 2022.
Content moderation and free speech
Of all of the issues our society faces today in terms of technology, there is widespread agreement across partisan lines that content moderation is one of the most consequential debates today, even if that agreement only consists of an acknowledgement that the current state of things is not sustainable in the long term. Some argue that technology companies need to moderate more content — especially around fake news, misinformation, and hate speech — while others argue that these companies are simply suppressing certain types of speech that they disagree with on ideological grounds and acting as unaccountable “moderators” in the open marketplace of ideas.
In 2022, these issues will only become more controversial and divisive as major political parties in the United States and in countries around the world debate and possibly legislate how and by what standard these companies should moderate or suppress certain types of content online. One of the key elements in this debate will be where to draw the line over free speech and the nature of religious freedom in the public square.
Misinformation/fake news
This past year, I have heard from countless pastors and ministry leaders about how to navigate the rise of fake news, misinformation, and conspiracy theories in their local churches. Some Christian leaders argue that misinformation is not a problem plaguing the local church, but this is often because many of us have become so accustomed to it. And almost no one truly believes they are spreading a conspiracy theory or fake news given that they believe it to be true.
One of the most subtle and deleterious effects of technology today is how our society perceives truth and how the information overload we face each day is causing all of us to lose a grip on reality. This isn’t an isolated occurrence but has become a cultural practice across political, social, and even religious grounds. While this debate is endlessly complex, one of the most countercultural things we can do in the midst of information overload is to simply say, “I don’t know.” Conversations about these problems will only grow in the coming year as our society awakens to the fact that misinformation and fake news have real-world consequences.
Digital surveillance and data privacy
Amidst many of the digital issues of the day, there is one issue that seems to be right outside of the limelight but will likely be a central ethical concern in 2022. With the ubiquity of technology and our dependence on it, there is the vast and growing concern over personal privacy and the use of data. Governments around the world are beginning to or have already regulated the flow of data and who has access to it, often focusing on a right to privacy. In the U.S., there has been a continued push for a federal digital privacy law similar to that found in the European Union with the GDPR and states like California with the CCPA. In 2021, much of the movement in this space centered around what it could look like for the U.S. to have a “digital bill of rights” as we move further into this digital first world.
For Christians, a right to privacy is not derived from the moral autonomy of the individual, as in many non-Christian ethical theories, but from the dignity of all people. One of the functions of privacy in this world is a way to care for the vulnerable among us and uphold their dignity as image-bearers in a technologically-rich society. As we see each day, however, is that data and information can and will be used, abused, and manipulated toward selfish ends because of the prevailing nature of sin in the world.
Unfortunately, technology will be used to control and strip others of their dignity. One of the main ways this will be done in our digital society is through the misuse of data and information. Thus, there is a great need for a right to privacy grounded in a transcendent reality of human dignity, rather than the pursuit of autonomy and individual freedom. In 2022, we may see some more movement from local, state, and federal governments to address these important issues of data collection, personal privacy, and the use of this information by private and public actors alike.
Digital authoritarianism
In 2021, we saw the explosive growth of technology control entire people groups and even nations. While much of the focus in the West was on how technologies are shaping how we see the world around us, throughout the world these tools are still being used to prop up strong men and authoritarian regimes — bent on controlling the flow of information and subjecting people to massive propaganda in order to retain power and positions over those who are vulnerable. One of the clearest examples of digital authoritarianism is seen the continued genocide of the Uyghur people in China under the repressive Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
As I recently wrote, the CCP uses countless forms of technology to suppress basic human rights, surveil its citizens, and subjugate our fellow image-bearers to some of the worst forms of both physical and mental abuse. Technology is one of the most powerful tools the CCP has in its arsenal to control and manipulate others. But this heavy hand of authoritarianism isn’t limited to the CCP. Nations around the world have shown that they will use any means necessary to limit access to information, suppress free expression, and cut people off from the outside world altogether. In recent years, we have seen this take place in Iran, Russia, Belarus, and most recently Cuba.
As we move into 2022, it is clear that digital authoritarianism is becoming commonplace around the world and will only continue to rise as technologies become more accurate and accessible to those bent on suppressing human rights and religious freedom in order to maintain position or power over others.
As Christians engage the most pressing issues of our day, we must do so with a rich vision of human dignity and a public theology that is rooted in the truthfulness of Scripture. While ethical issues with technology may seem unimportant or pale in comparison to others at times, we must remember that these concerns are central to many of the ongoing debates we have been having for many years. Looking out onto the ethical and policy landscape of 2022, there is much to be hopeful about, but there are also many pressing issues that need to be addressed by thoughtful and rich engagement from the church — as she proclaims the goodness of God’s design and the truth of the gospel to a world desperately in need of both truth and grace.
By Marie Delph / Oct 18
Nearly every area of our lives has been technicized or digitized in one way or another during the past century. Technology has ushered in innumerable benefits for humanity, which often overshadow some of the damaging effects of these massive shifts in our daily lives. Smartphones have led to a growing culture of digital addictions and isolation, especially among young people. We see this fact clearly in the recent reports of how Facebook — and by extension, all of social media — has become toxic for teenage girls and for the rest of us as well.
Social and mass media have connected societies across the world, opening up new opportunities for everyone’s voices to be heard, stories to be shared, and economic opportunities to be spread like never before. But they have come with a price, exacerbating an exponential breakdown of civil discourse and leading to a weakening of various control mechanisms that helped govern our common pursuit of truth. Modern medical technologies have allowed for longer and healthier lives for millions of people, but have also led to a devaluing of humanity. For all of the real benefits of technology, there are countless dangers that have often fallen outside of the public eye. In truth, technology has ushered in a breakdown of our social fabric and led to the commodification of everything.
One of the most prescient figures and astute observers of the cultural and moral shifts taking place in the 20th century with the rise of modern technology, Jacques Ellul, opened his influential work The Technological Society by saying, “No social, human, or spiritual fact is so important as the fact of technique in the modern world. And yet no subject is so little understood” (3). As a trained sociologist and a Protestant theologian, Ellul rightly saw that there are not only political or social components to technology, but also theological and ethical components as well. Southern Baptist theologian R. Albert Mohler Jr. echoed these truths by recently stating, “Christians must think seriously about technology and understand that technology is a theological issue.”
Yet, in light of these realities, there is still only a small — though growing — library of theological and ethical resources on these crucial issues. So where might the church turn for wisdom in this technological age?
Equipping the Church
Over the last few years, the ERLC has sought to lead the way in preparing the church for this digital age and warn of the impending issues of technology in the public square and in our local contexts. In April 2019, the ERLC launched a groundbreaking statement of principles on artificial intelligence (AI) declaring that the imago Dei is not only the central element of Christian ethics but also a key aspect of how we navigate the pressing ethical issues of technology. In a world seemingly set on the immanent and material, this Christian teaching reminds us that we are uniquely created by God given dignity, value, and moral responsibility for the things we create and their shaping power over all of society and culture.
In September, the ERLC board of trustees approved an ambitious and large-scale research project called the Digital Public Square which will serve as a hub for Southern Baptists and evangelical engagement on these pressing issues of technology and digital governance over the next couple of years. The main goal of this project is to provide research and resources to help you navigate this digital age as we collectively think through complex and crucial ethical challenges with biblical wisdom and insight. It will include a state of digital governance report, statement of principles on digital technologies, two major book projects, and various resources — including the recently launched Digital Public Square podcast with conversations on theology, ethics, and philosophy in the public square.
The challenges ahead
As we look ahead to the ethical challenges of technology and the public square, we see three main areas of needed research and ethical reflection.
First, the Church must be able to proclaim the inherent dignity of all people and their God-given, pre-political rights of free expression and religious freedom in an age that is increasingly hostile or apathetic to the truth of Christianity. The public nature of faith is a key aspect of the Christian worldview, even in a secularized culture that seeks to simply relegate religious belief to a private matter of individuals. Christianity is not a privatized faith, rooted in individualism, but a faith that radically transforms every aspect of our lives including how we love God and our neighbor in the digital age. These two issues are especially prevalent as society faces yet another epistemic crisis over the reality of truth and how we navigate the complexities of an increasingly diverse society.
Second an underdeveloped, yet key area of ethical research is defining the competing concepts of hate speech in a digital age and the key distinctions of physical threats of violence or immanent harm versus the dramatic growth of emotional safeism. In recent years, ideas — especially those of biological realities and historic Christian teaching — have been deemed as inherantly bigoted and harmful. But, as Brookings scholar Jonathan Rauch eloquently states in his recent work The Constitution of Knowledge, “words are not bullets . . . stopping words does not stop bullets, and . . . confusing words with bullets is a tragic error” (203).
Lastly, in light of the dangerous abuses of technology and data happening all across the world today, the Church needs serious reflection on the ethical aspects of digital privacy, data collection, and the growing authoritarian abuses of technology. Examples of this are the desperate longing for complete and unfettered control of the Chinese Communist Party over the Chinese people — and, by extension, the growing influence of the CCP abroad — and the concerning trends of data collection being used to alter the behaviors of countless people through digital technologies. The combination of the power of these tools and the sinful nature of humanity does not allow for the Church to passively engage these issues.
Through the Digital Public Square project, the ERLC hopes to chart a new path for Southern Baptist and evangelical engagement on these pressing issues of technology. We will do this based on the unchanging Word of God and the kingship of Christ, alongside a rich heritage of public and social engagement built upon the dignity of every human being. Technology is not a tertiary issue in the public square. It is a deeply theological and ethical issue that the Church must engage, compelled by the love of God and neighbor (Mark 12:30-31).
Learn more about ERLC’s work in the digital public square and sign up to receive articles like this at ERLC.com/digital
By Marie Delph / Oct 6
The digital age promised deep connections, rich communication, and more access to information than we could ever imagine. But while technology has brought incredible benefits and conveniences into our lives, it also has led to countless unintended consequences and deep ethical challenges that push us to consider how to live out our faith in a technological society.
This week, Chelsea Sobolik’s ERLC colleague Jason Thacker joins her to discuss his new project, the digital public square and important tech policies that you need to know about.
Guest Biography
Jason serves as chair of research in technology ethics at the ERLC. He also serves as an adjunct instructor of philosophy, ethics, and worldview at Boyce College in Louisville, KY. He is the author of the forthcoming book, Following Jesus in the Digital Age with B&H Publishing, as well as The Age of AI: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity with Zondervan. He also serves as the editor of a forthcoming volume with B&H Academic on Christian ethics and the digital public square, focused on content moderation and online governance. He is the project leader and lead drafter of Artificial Intelligence: An Evangelical Statement of Principles, and his work has been featured at Slate, Politico, Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, and World Radio.
Resources from the Conversation
By Marie Delph / Oct 1
In this episode, Lindsay and Brent discuss the SBC Executive Committee extending task force negotiations, the CDC urging pregnant women to get the COVID-19 vaccine, Youtube cracking down on anti-vaccine misinformation videos, COVID cases falling by 25%, and the Senate reaching a last-minute deal to avoid a government shutdown. They also give a rundown of this week’s ERLC content including Jason Thacker with “Is Facebook discipling your church members? How technology is shaping the church and altering our worldview,” Catherine Parks with “What is the state of abortion around the world? An international round-up of recent legislative efforts regarding abortion,” and Jill Waggoner with “Mindy Belz helps Christians think about the Middle East: 9/11, suffering, and the hope we have in Jesus.”
ERLC Content
- Jason Thacker with Is Facebook discipling your church members? How technology is shaping the church and altering our worldview
- Catherine Parks with What is the state of abortion around the world? An international round-up of recent legislative efforts regarding abortion
- Jill Waggoner with Mindy Belz helps Christians think about the Middle East: 9/11, suffering, and the hope we have in Jesus
Culture
- SBC EC extends task force negotiations
- CDC to pregnant women: Get vaccinated
- Youtube cracks down on anti-vaccine videos
- COVID cases fall by 25%
- Senate reaches last-minute deal to avoid shutdown
Lunchroom
- Brent: Cracker Barrel rocking chair
- Lindsay: For King and Country new song
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By Marie Delph / Sep 27
Over the last few weeks, there have been a number of concerning reports about how social media — Facebook, in particular — is having extremely negative effects on our society, especially among teenagers. It is even shaping the content that Christians are exposed to on the platform as well. According to a Wall Street Journal investigation, the issues range from certain high-profile accounts being shielded from standard content guidelines to how the company has known that Instagram is toxic for many teenage girls. The Wall Street Journal also reported that in 2018 the company tweaked its content algorithms, which drive our news feeds, in hopes of fostering greater community and user engagement, but the effects were more dangerous than initially thought. The report shows that these changes actually exacerbated tensions and divisions with more inflammatory and objectionable content being highlighted for users, yet leadership failed to act.
On top of these reports from the Wall Street Journal, which were gleaned from various internal research reports, online employee discussions, and draft presentations to senior management, MIT Technology Review recently showed that troll farms had reached over 140 million users on Facebook before the 2020 election. A troll farm is an organized group of users (or even bots) who intentionally craft content to exploit division and sow discord in society. Of particular interest to Christians is that these troll farms — often based in Eastern Europe — operated all 15 of the top Christian American pages on Facebook in October 2019. The largest of the Christian pages on the platform reached 75 million U.S. users monthly. Ninety-five percent of that engagement came from users who never chose to follow the pages but were still exposed to the content crafted by these non-Christian groups.
Jeff Allen, a former senior-level data scientist at Facebook who authored the 2019 report in the MIT story, stated, “Our platform has given the largest voice in the Christian American community to a handful of bad actors, who, based on their media production practices, have never been to church.” This means that millions of Christians throughout our society are likely being exposed daily to messages from troll farms, which often design messages for higher engagement, financial gain, and to negatively alter one’s outlook on the world rather than point people back to Christ and the gospel.
It is obvious from these reports that Facebook needs to immediately address these concerning ethical issues for the sake of public safety, health, and our public discourse. But another big takeaway is that these issues are not limited to Facebook; rather, they are symptomatic of the larger issues with technology in our society today. In reality, we are often being discipled more by our technologies than we are the Word of God.
More than a tool
One of the most common understandings of technology, especially in Christianity, is that it is simply a tool that we choose to use for good or evil purposes. But others insist that technology is a larger social force that is basically unstoppable in altering society for ill. In his book The Technological Society, French sociologist Jacques Ellul says technology is much more than a simple tool or machine because its purpose is to shape every aspect of our society and culture toward greater efficiency — at any cost. While Ellul didn’t exactly have a hopeful outlook for our technological society, one aspect of his philosophy is prescient in that it pushes us to consider the larger ways that technology shapes our culture and alters our perception of reality.
As technologist and theologian John Dyer puts it in his book From the Garden to the City, “Both [views] have elements of truth to them, but we cannot reduce all discussions about technology in either direction.” He goes on to say, “People are culpable for their choices, but technology still plays a role in influencing the decisions they make.” A Christian philosophy of technology seeks to balance the two prevailing views of technology by providing an active framework of agency and accountability, alongside an expanded view of technology that sees the larger societal effects of these tools.
The Church has long promoted the idea that technology is a tool that can be used for good by God’s people to connect with others, build communities, shape the worldview of our churches, and influence the wider culture as we harness it to proclaim the gospel. At the same time, we must heed the words of theologian and ethicist Jacob Shatzer, who warns in his book Transhumanism and the Image of God that “each tool pushes us toward the goal that the tool is best made for” and that we must be “aware of this, unless we think that our goals in life will always align with the goals that tools were made for.” Amid the good, Christians need to recognize the ways that technology expands our moral horizons by opening up options we never thought possible and allowing our sinful hearts to use these technologies to exploit others, manipulate truth, and stoke division.
Christian ethics in a digital age
If you survey much of today’s literature on ethics, a main critique of the Christian ethic is that it is simply unable to deal with new challenges we face today, especially in the digital age. But it shouldn’t surprise us that Jesus didn’t speak to these issues directly or that Paul and the other apostles didn’t write about how to navigate artificial intelligence, smartphones, social media, or other technologies.
While some will write off a Christian philosophy and ethic of technology as outdated or simply unusable, a biblical vision of technology ethics is more than robust enough to help us think through the challenging questions of social media platforms, how to advocate for free expression and religious freedom, and how to uphold the dignity of all human beings in the face of technologies that exploit our weaknesses. Christ summed up the foundation and goal of Christian ethics in Matthew 22:37-39: we are to love God and love our neighbor as ourselves. This means prioritizing our neighbors over profit and recognizing how the tools we use — even if designed with the best intentions — can and will be exploited in sinful and dehumanizing ways as they alter our perception of reality.
One of the ways we can do this in the digital age is by learning about how technology, as more than just a tool, is shaping our lives and society. This should drive us to an active engagement rather than a passive use of these powerful tools. We should also seek to understand that tools like Facebook are being used to influence and shape the worldviews of the church and wider society, often in perverse ways. They do this by exposing us to perfectly crafted and curated messages used to sway our social engagement, exploit our natural desires to be known, and give us a false sense of control in chaotic times.
Pastors and ministry leaders need to understand that technology is one of the primary disciplers of those in our churches. This is due to the fact that our technological devices are at our side nearly every minute of the day, ready to envelope us in the personally-curated online worlds that are designed to shape our view of society. Given the ubiquity of technology today, we have to ask ourselves how we are being formed by these creations, and to what end. Most importantly, Christians must ask if we are being transformed to be more like Christ through our use of technology, or if we are ultimately being conformed to the likeness of this world instead (Romans 12:2).
Learn more about ERLC’s work in the digital public square and sign up to receive articles like this at ERLC.com/digital
By Marie Delph / Sep 16
My family lives just outside of a small town in Tennessee with a historic downtown district. Like many small towns throughout our nation, we have a downtown square that serves as a hub. In prior generations, these public squares were gathering places for everyone. People regularly traveled in from the outskirts of town to shop, eat, and do business. They would also come together for community events and to freely engage with one another. While many historic downtown public squares have been abandoned in light of the growth of suburbs, there is a renewed interest in revitalizing these historic neighborhoods and to provide a place for communities to gather once again — especially in a digital age that has led to increasing isolation.
These public gathering places serve as an apt metaphor for a period when much of our daily communication, commerce, and community are facilitated in the digital public square of social media and online connectivity. With the rise of the internet and various social media platforms — such as Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok, and massive online retailers and internet companies like Amazon and Google — these new digital public squares promised to bring about a vibrant era of connectivity and togetherness across distances, more diverse communities, and more access to information. Many of these initial promises were made in light of oppressive regimes throughout the world that stifled free speech, suppressed human rights, violated religious freedom, and limited access to information in order to maintain control over other human beings made in the very image of God.
Ethical challenges in the digital age
While technology has brought incredible benefits and conveniences into our lives, it also has led to countless unintended consequences and deep ethical challenges that push us to consider how to live out our faith in a technological society. Each day we are bombarded with fake news, misinformation, conspiracy theories, ever growing polarization, and more information than we could ever hope to process. We are regularly faced with challenges where wisdom and truth are needed, yet faith is not always welcomed in the public square and in the important debates over digital governance. In truth, technology has always been used and abused by those who seek to hold on to power and wield it to suppress free expression all around the world. But today, these threats seem more visceral and dangerous to our way of life than ever before.
One of the most challenging ethical issues of our day with technology is centered around the proper role of digital governance and the ethical boundaries of free expression in the digital public square. Many have recently begun to question the role of the technology industry over our public discourse, as well as the responsibilities of individuals, third-party companies, and even the role of the government in digital governance. While much of the dangerous, illegal, and elicit content is rightly moderated, questions remain as to what kind of ideas or speech are to be welcomed in the digital public square and how we’re to maintain various ethical boundaries as we seek to uphold free expression and religious freedom for all.
On one hand, our digital public squares are very public and have an incredibly diverse group of community members. But on the other hand, there is often immense pressure to conform to certain secular ethical principles that tend to push people of faith out of public conversations and debates simply based on their deeply held beliefs about God, the nature of humanity, and how we are to navigate these challenges to free expression and religious freedom.
A new research project
The complex nature of the questions surrounding ethics and religion in the digital age is exactly why I am excited to announce that the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission is pioneering a new research project called the Digital Public Square. This project is designed to help provide the local church and the technology industry with thoughtful resources that will help everyone engage these important debates over digital governance and promote free expression as well as religious freedom for all. We seek to cast a robust vision for public theology and ethical engagement in a technological society — a vision grounded in a historical understanding of the role of the church in society and in the unchanging Word of God. While some believe that religion has no role to play in a modern society, we believe that our faith is central to how we engage these pressing issues and live faithfully in the digital age.
The Digital Public Square project will gather some of the best voices from across academia, journalism, public policy, think tanks, and most importantly, the local church to clarify the state of the digital public square and to cast a vision for Christian engagement in the areas of content moderation, online governance, and engagement with the technology industry as a whole. Just as Christians have sought to develop a robust public theology on matters of church and state relations for many generations, Christians must also think deeply about how God would call us to engage the challenges of technology and these companies that operate around the globe in vastly different cultural contexts. We will seek to answer questions surrounding the nature of free expression, the role of democratic values around the world, and best practices for cultivating a truly diverse digital society where people of faith are a vital part of these important conversations.
We will do so in a four-prong approach that will extend throughout 2021 and 2022. The project will include an in-depth report on the state of the digital public square, a set of guiding ethical principles for digital governance, and numerous resources for the local church to use in order to engage and bear witness to the gospel in the digital age. These resources will include two different book-length volumes: Following Jesus in a Digital Age with B&H Publishing, and The Digital Public Square: Ethics and Religion in a Technological Society from B&H Academic in 2022. The latter will feature contributions from 14 leading thinkers from across society addressing the pressing issues of digital governance, such as the nature of the public square, US and international technology policy, religious freedom, hate speech/violence, seuxality and gender issues, pornography and other objectionable content, misinformation, fake news, conspiracy theories, and the rise of global digital authoritarianism.
To learn more about the Digital Public Square project and to receive project updates, along with our weekly content on technology ethics, visit ERLC.com/digital.
By Marie Delph / Sep 16
Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 16, 2021—The Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is launching a new, long-term research project today convening top Christian thinkers to explore the intersection of Christian ethics and the digital public square.
The Digital Public Square project will focus on the areas of human dignity, ethics, free speech and religious freedom. Jason Thacker, ERLC’s chair of research in technology ethics and author of the forthcoming book, “Following Jesus in the Digital Age,” from B&H Publishing, is spearheading the project.
ERLC trustees affirmed the project by a unanimous vote after a special presentation from Thacker during their annual meeting in Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 15.
“The ethical issues surrounding technology are often extremely complex and challenging,” said Thacker. “In an increasingly digital society, technology is the primary means through which much of our public discourse occurs. The ERLC wants to equip Christians and the wider culture to make sense of an ever-changing digital culture and to gain wisdom to navigate the most challenging aspects of technology and social media—including the nature of religious freedom and free expression in the digital public square. We often fail to see how technology is shaping not only our own walk with Christ, but also our churches and communities in ways that are contrary to our faith.”
Acting ERLC President Brent Leatherwood stated, “The ministry assignment Southern Baptists have given the ERLC asks us to assist churches in applying the moral and ethical teachings of the Bible to Christian life––and this is especially crucial as technology affects more and more aspects of our society. Jason has proven himself to be one of the leading voices in technology ethics and we are so thankful for the biblical wisdom he is providing in this area.”
In addition to Thacker’s book, leaders of the Digital Public Square project plan to release a number of assets over a two-year period to equip Christians on why ethics of technology matter to human flourishing and our public discourse.
The project will include an in-depth report on the state of the digital public square, a set of guiding ethical principles for digital governance and numerous resources for the local church to engage and bear witness to the gospel in the digital age—including two different book length volumes: “Following Jesus in a Digital Age” with B&H Publishing and “The Digital Public Square: Ethics and Religion in a Technological Society” with contributions from 14 leading thinkers from B&H Academic in 2022.
To learn more about the Digital Public Square project, visit ERLC.com/digital.
About Jason Thacker: Jason Thacker serves as chair of research in technology ethics and leads the Research Institute at The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. He is the author of the forthcoming book, “Following Jesus in the Digital Age” with B&H Publishing, as well as “The Age of AI: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Humanity” with Zondervan. He is also the editor of a forthcoming volume with B&H Academic on Christian ethics and the digital public square. He is the project leader and lead drafter of “Artificial Intelligence: An Evangelical Statement of Principles,” and his work has been featured at Slate, Politico, Christianity Today, The Gospel Coalition, and World Radio.
He is a graduate of The University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn., where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies. He also holds a Master of Divinity from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he is currently pursuing a doctorate in Ethics and Public Theology. He serves as a founding member of AI and Faith. He is married to Dorie and they have two sons. They live outside of Nashville, Tenn.
By Marie Delph / Aug 2
In early 2020, we simply didn’t know what we didn’t know about COVID-19 and the impending pandemic. As of today, over 4.2 million lives have been tragically lost worldwide. Wild theories, mask mandates, experimental treatments, and origin stories abounded as our society tried desperately to gain ground against this silent killer. As we sought answers, many of us naturally turned to social media and its instant connectivity to share and learn more about this virus. Yet, those very platforms were littered with misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories — which are themselves reflective of the divisions we face throughout our social order.
Even as the platforms sought to label and remove much of this misleading and fake content, it became increasingly clear that identifying what was what became increasingly difficult since so much was unknown about this pandemic. And while we know so much more than we did last year, these challenges of identification and moderation did not relent even as the widespread deployment of vaccines began and a sense of normalcy returned. If anything, these challenges became more difficult given the polarization surrounding the life saving vaccines, the rise of COVID variants, and yet another wave of infections sweeping across our nation and the world.
In the last few weeks, there have been countless headlines about the fight against COVID-19 misinformation and disinformation, largely because of renewed calls for meaningful action to mitigate the spread coming from congressional leaders, the U.S. Surgeon General, and even the Biden administration. Many of these calls are directed at major social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. It’s argued those who run these platforms aren’t doing enough to curb the spread of manipulations online, especially during a worldwide health crisis.
While social media obviously aids the spread of misleading and false information, calls for more moderation often fail to account for the difficulty of combating this and the divergent opinions on how to do so. They also fail to see how these issues fall under a larger cultural narrative on both sides of the ideological divide. Responses to this pandemic have become a microcosm of some of the larger issues in the digital public square, such as the limits of free speech and the efficacy of truth.
What is mis/disinformation?
While conspiracy theories and disinformation may have become a household term in recent years, they are not entirely new concepts. Mentioning these terms tends to elicit deep and powerful emotions, often stemming from the polarization and division that we face today. Much of this polarization is due in part to decades-long disputes over the public nature of ethics, the role of faith in the public square, and breakdown of trust in institutions. Cultural narratives have been built around these issues and are tough to shed, especially during tense times such as a pandemic.
Misinformation broadly refers to the spreading of misleading information — whether it is simply missing context or is blatantly false. While disinformation refers to the intentional manipulation and distribution of facts, often for personal, corporate, or state gain. Conspiracy theories function as grand disinformation narratives based on some type of secret knowledge used to explain conspiratorial and often corrupt behavior by powerful figures in society. They are often designed to exploit the existing fissures in society and widen the gap between certain social, religious, and political groups for personal or social gain.
While some misinformation and disinformation is easy to spot, other examples are notoriously difficult to identify and stop. The technical capabilities of the last couple decades with the internet and social media have made the believability of these manipulations of truth more widespread, particularly as public trust continues to fray. Social media was originally designed to connect various people around the world and champion free expression. But it also tends to thrive on the lack of context, nuance, and complexity, making it deleterious to our public discourse.
Given the intensity and dangers of misinformation online, many social media companies have sought to minimize its spread and even remove it from public sight entirely, citing the negative effects on public discourse and even our physical health. Given the complexity and gravity of the issues at stake, it is slightly ironic that many calls to curb the spread of misinformation online never actually define what it is, nor talk about how to balance the call with issues like free speech. And when definitions are given, they become increasingly divisive and disjointed as platforms seek to implement these policies.
In an age of expressive individualism based on the idea that the individual is to determine their truth or the state of reality, whose truth is actually truth? Is there a standard and widely accepted definition of reality? Who is to decide? And who gets to decide who decides?
After President Biden called on Facebook in particular to curb the spreading of this false information online — where some reports indicate that 60% of COVID related misinformation came from just 12 individuals — Facebook responded that they had already taken action on all eight recommendations from the Surgeon General about what is considered misinformation and what is within the limits of free speech. This balance is notoriously difficult to strike, though, since very few actually desire unfettered and absolute free speech online because of the immense issues it can cause to public order and community safety. Content moderation is a key feature of social media because without any type of moderation, these platforms would simply be unusable, unsafe, undesirable, and unsustainable. But at the same time, this does not mean that content moderation is without ideological bias or within the appropriate scope. The questions are: Where is that line drawn? And who should draw the line?
Drawing the line
The line of disinformation and free speech is notoriously difficult to identify in our digital age due in large part to the ambiguities surrounding what actually constitutes truth. Henry Olsen of the Ethics and Public Policy Center wrote, “Misinformation is often in the eye of the beholder, especially when it comes to political speech.” This sentiment is regularly espoused by many across the ideological perspective as a way to argue against certain forms of content moderation due to the ambiguities of defining it. The challenges are especially prominent with COVID-related misinformation and disinformation because of how little was known earlier on about the virus — including treatments, origins, and even the vaccines themselves.
While it is increasingly popular in our post-modern society to champion your personal truth and discover yourself under the auspices of expressive individualism, this pursuit is fundamentally at odds with a Christian understanding of truth and ultimate reality. Thus, it is imperative that Christians stand against these mischaracterizations of reality, regardless of how truth is abused or misused by others throughout our society. We believe in a transcendent reality, a fundamental basis for truth, and ought to reject claims to “truth” that are often more defined by retaining or gaining social capital than they are about Christ himself.
Misinformation and disinformation are not truly in the eye of the beholder, unless we deny the ability to actually discern truth. This is difficult to implement in a world driven by sound bites, instantaneous news, constant outrage, and the onslaught of information we are exposed to without any real hope of actually processing. But these challenges shouldn’t keep Christians from engaging in this space and standing against the rising tide of disinformation.
Navigating these manipulations of truth
It can be difficult to know how to move forward in this age of misinformation and disinformation — especially during a deadly pandemic. Christians are a people of truth and should have nothing to do with spreading falsehoods (Eph. 4:25). And wisdom calls us to slow down in a society that prizes efficiency over reality and to evaluate the words we speak or share online so that they carry the fragrance of Christ (James 1:19-20). As we seek to develop a public theology and ethic for the digital age, we must remember that in a society ravaged by sin, certain allowances and trade-offs must be made in order to champion the rights of all people to freely express themselves, but in a way that upholds the safety and well being of all people. Here are a few steps we can take toward that goal.
First, we must keep freedom of speech front and center in these debates. This is particularly important given the power of these tools over our public discourse. It is far too easy and convenient on social media to publicly mock or denigrate those on the “other” side of the ideological or religious spectrum. This is a perennial problem throughout society. People from across ideological perspectives fall prey to these lies or willingly promote them in order to attain status or notoriety.
In our secular age, it is common for those without explicitly religious claims to function as if science explains all things or that secular ideals are somehow non religious in nature, even though many conclusions in science — especially moral claims — are accepted by faith as well. Everyone operates inside some set of social values that are not inherently founded upon empirical evidence. Even those who believe in a purely materialistic or naturalistic worldview have a set of beliefs that must be taken on faith.
No matter one’s ideological perspective or worldview, mocking, jeering, and looking down on our fellow image-bearers is unbecoming and should be seen as completely anathema to what it means to follow Christ. This condescension exacerbates the growing polarization of our society, driving members of the public further away from one another. Free speech not only helps to uphold the dignity of all, but it also can help bridge the growing divides in our society. So often these manipulations of truth thrive in environments that seek to eliminate them from public discourse with a heavy hand because they can use that suppression as fuel to spread faster since some will claim that these lies must contain some level of truth that your enemies simply are trying to cover up.
An additional danger with disinformation is that many in our society tend to use that label on the speech we simply don’t like regardless of what truth may actually lie within them. We see a similar trend in the ever widening definitions of hate speech that seem to be more about stamping out dissidents than pursuing physical safety or truth. But this doesn’t mean that free speech trumps everything else, especially during isolated seasons like a public health crisis. A balance must be maintained, but that can only happen when we recognize how our narratives of culture drive how we see one another.
Second, we must begin to seek out information and insight from sources other than social media. Although traditional sources of news are often ideologically biased as well, these news organizations and periodicals do have some level of accountability that is often absent of random users on these platforms. Even some of the most blatantly partisan sources have issued retractions, apologies, or set the record straight on the past spreading of misinformation. Recently, I read a helpful book by Jeffrey Bilbro that helps Christians practically navigate news consumption in our daily lives. Much more can and should be said about our media consumption habits and Bilbro’s book is a helpful place to start.
As Christians, we must strive to verify the information we share online, for the sake of our neighbors and the way in which we represent Christ to the world around us. It is unbiblical to speak in ways that are contrary to the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23) and to spread misleading information in order to gain a political edge. In reality, it is also a rejection of Christ’s atoning work on our behalf; if we are people changed by the gospel, then we should reflect Christ throughout our lives, especially in how we interact online. Truth will always be better than any short-term gain from misinformation.
By Marie Delph / Jul 6
As things start moving back to a post-pandemic “normal,” many parents are looking forward to their children returning to in-person learning. In addition to improving their concentration, reconnecting with in-person friends, and reestablishing rigorous standards, one of the key benefits will be less time on screens. None of this will be without effort and intentionality, but what may prove most difficult is dialing back kids’ dependence on screens.
The battle over devices
The battle over devices was already a problem before the pandemic. Books like Naomi Scaeffer Riley’s Be the Parent, Please: Stop Banning Seesaws and Start Banning Snapchat sounded the alarm in January 2019. Real harm comes to children of all ages from unsupervised, unfiltered access to all things online and virtual, confirms Riley. The pandemic only made that worse. Once schools went online, there was little hope for limitations. Not only were children expected to be on their iPads or computers for all of each school day, they were typically given looser restrictions during after-school hours by parents who, scrambling to get their own work done and anxious about all the bad news, were glad for their children, who had nowhere to go, to have something to do.
Last spring, when most kids didn’t have a choice about being on a connected device for hours a day, experts tried to be reassuring. They said some screen time is okay, but still agreed that too much is detrimental. “Spending an hour or two a day with devices during leisure time doesn’t seem to be harmful for mental health,” wrote psychology professor Jean Twenge, at the Institute for Family Studies. “And doing homework or educational activities on devices for a few hours a day is a virtual necessity and is unlikely to be harmful, so we can cross that off our list of worries as well.”
Even when screen time was considered essential, Twenge wasn’t giving unqualified support. “[This] doesn’t mean parents should give up on managing kids’ screen time during this extended period of staying at home. Watching videos and scrolling through Instagram all day might keep them quiet, but it’s not the best for their mental health or development.” As virtual school winds down, it’s time to revisit prior concerns about how much screen time is too much, and even more urgently, how much of what’s online is harmful, regardless of time limits.
In addition to the angst all parents generally feel about what kids are watching and doing on social media these days, Christian parents have a biblical imperative to disciple their children — to oversee not just their mental and physical health, but most importantly, their spiritual growth (Deut. 6:6–9; Eph. 6:4). That includes shepherding their media use. We need renewed vigor to reclaim — or introduce for the first time — God-honoring digital habits.
The Wall Street Journal’s family and tech columnist, Julie Jargon, says, “After more than a year of being glued to their devices, a lot of kids will have trouble easing up on the tech that brought them comfort and connection during the pandemic.” It’s not just children who will have to work at this. Parents, too, likely spent more time online and on devices in 2020, and their modeling is a primary influence on their kids.
Digital reset
Jargon’s article, “How to Wean Your Kids—and Yourself—Off Screens,” recommends a family “digital reset” including things like phone-free times and spaces (the dinner table, car rides), shared rather than solo screens, and even a one-day-a-week tech sabbath. She suggests going back to pre-COVID tech rules. “Use the start of summer as an opportunity to re-establish any tech rules you let slide during the pandemic, like allowing devices in bedrooms at night or allowing videogames before homework or chores are done.”
Assuming you had pre-COVID tech rules, that’s a good place to start. But many Christian parents need to honestly ask themselves what their kids ’— and their own — habits were before the pandemic. What’s needed may not be a return to pre-pandemic normal, but a better, more biblical, normal. That includes a better rhythm of shared family culture, analog learning, creative real-life (not virtual) endeavors, and using technology for the glory of God. Some examples include reading books aloud together, asking good questions to foster substantive conversations at meal time, going outside to explore nature together, re-engaging with or developing shared hobbies, playing instruments and singing, playing board games, cooking together, exercising as a family, and the list could go on.
It is up to parents to set expectations for life together in the family. That life is shaped in large part by how much, or how little, time is given to screens. Children need us to help them answer questions like: What does it look like to faithfully steward our time? How does social media use affect our thoughts, our affections, our desires? What might we do together if we put down our phones? And in the absence of those phones, how might we advance the kingdom of God in our childrens’ hearts and minds?
Here’s what might that look like in everyday life:
Meet with God before you meet with people: My husband and I both wait until after we’ve met with the Lord, praying and reading our Bibles, to even pick up our phones. Giving our first thoughts to what’s essential, seeking God’s will for the day, meditating on his revealed truth — all of this grounds us in what’s most important and makes us less vulnerable to the voices of the world that flood our phones (Psa.1:1-2).
Study the Bible and pray together: After seeking God personally, we seek him together as a family. Last fall we started spending between 10–15 minutes together on weekday mornings before we all headed in different directions, reading Lord Teach Us to Pray, a family study on the Lord’s Prayer. With our kids’ help, we read the text selections together and answer the questions provided in the study about what we just read in the Bible.
Use screens in community: Proverbs 18:1 says, “Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.” That reality is a warning against giving kids connected devices to use by themselves. We limit screen use to shared family spaces where they can be easily seen by more than just the person using them.
Model what you require: (Or plan to when your children are old enough). Let your children see you stewarding your phone, your iPad, and your other smart devices the way you want them to steward theirs.
Put screens to bed early: Rather than scrolling ourselves to a fitful sleep, we spend the last hour of most days together reading a story aloud, or reading books to ourselves, unwinding the stress of the day with restful “slow” entertainment, and closing the day’s activity with a family prayer.
As we celebrate a return to normal, these, and other similar embodied, relational practices can keep us from losing our way in the fog of media that grows thicker by the day.