Share first, think later: When 'citizen journalism' crosses ethical lines

Photographing and sharing images of tragic accidents on social media is “citizen journalism at its worst” and highlights the urgent need to focus on digital education across the nation, according to experts in communication and human behaviour.

The issue came to light once again following a recent fatal traffic accident in which a motorcyclist died on the spot. After the accident, graphic photos were shared extensively via WhatsApp.

This had also happened some months ago when footage of another fatal accident, that involved a car losing control, made the rounds on social media.

Prof. Anton Grech, clinical chairman of Mental Health Services, explained that while human curiosity in the case of unusual or dramatic situations is normal – a phenomenon known as rubbernecking – social media amplified this.

These actions – of taking and sharing images of tragic situations – were a reflection of a larger situation, he said. Before social media existed there were ‘celebrities’ and ‘spectators’. Social media brought with it a shift in which many people wanted to be protagonists. This was happening in a virtual environment that is saturated with content and, in which, in order to be seen and stand out, the content has to be attention-grabbing.

“In parallel with this, we are losing respect for the society around us. We saw this in a recent case when a man was threatening to jump off the Valletta bastions,” he said, referring to the 2021 case when onlookers urged a man to jump from the edge of a Valletta bastion, with many filming the ordeal.

“Many people seize all opportunities to gain this recognition without respect for others,” he said, adding that there was an urgent need to educate people on this matter.

Prof. Brenda Murphy, a media and gender expert and founder of NGO Mediating Women, agreed that there was the urgent need for more media education – in schools and beyond – through curriculum and public campaigns.

“This is a public education issue – we need to re-establish digital boundaries. We need to remind people that our duty of care doesn’t disappear when we are online,” she said.

Such cases, she said, were “citizen journalism at its worst” as they offered “a great snapshot of the widening gaps in ‘news production’”. “Journalists and editors are trained, educated, bound by professional regulation – citizens operate without any of these guardrails. While citizen journalism was lauded as a great liberator for information – this is an example of a great backfire,” she said.

A deeply problematic phenomenon

Murphy explained that the sharing of such images was a “deeply problematic phenomenon” that reflects multiple pressures converging at the moment.

From a digital culture perspective, she said, we are living in a world where everything is documented, and the boundary between private and public is becoming increasingly eroded.

“In the case of tragic moments, there seems to be an underlying belief that if something shocking happens, it should be recorded and shared. The algorithms that drive social media amplify this. They reward visibility, and sadly that includes tragic events,” she said.

Then there was the conversation on media ethics.

 “We may have the capacity to capture something digitally, but that doesn’t mean we should. Sharing media content has become so normalised it completely breaches the private-public boundary. We need to be mindful that sharing a traumatic event compounds trauma – not just for the family and friends but the wider community is impacted too. We cannot justify this ‘norm drift’ by saying ‘it’s already out there, so it’s ok to repost’,” she said.