This article from Todd Suomela, Florence Chee, Bettina Berendt, and Geoffrey Rockwell published in DigitalĀ StudiesĀ examines key ethical issues that are continuing to emerge from the task of archiving data scraped from online sources such as social media sites, blogs, and forums, particularly pertaining to online harassment and hostile groups. The study involves a primary research archive that is comprised of data scraped from our project concerning the case study of Gamergate, which involved numerous instances of hate speech in various online communities. The authors explore the Ethics of Care as a different way of thinking about the ethics of digital humanities research, and how these ethics may be extended to the research community, especially student researchers in their exposure to toxic material.
DH librarians who are concerned about data privacy and data ethics will find it of interest. The findings may prove instructive in research consultations and teaching contexts.