A controversial fake news study, carried out by Swiss-based researchers on the social media platform Reddit, has highlighted the ethical responsibilities and challenges of conducting research on society.
It highlights a conundrum familiar to many researchers: how much information to withhold from participants to make the study realistic.
Researchers have a moral duty to respect the human rights and privacy of participants, inform them that they are taking part in research and gain consent for using their data.
Universities have ethics committees to make sure these duties are observed. And people are further protected by data protection laws and the Swiss constitution, which has clauses protecting the private sphere of citizens.
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