Mapping Media Responsibility. Contemporary Aspects of Morals, Ethics and Social Discourse

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The US Surveillance System:
Modern nation states use various mechanisms through which centralized authority is created and reproduced. In the Unites States, the FBI, the NSA and affiliate internet service-based organizations have come to embody the control structures of the government. These organizations collect and store personal data and relevant information from various sources. Surveillance and the collection of personal information raise morality issues. Research shows that information gathered is often used to interfere with individual autonomy and decision making rather than for the stated lawful purposes (Wicker & Schrader, 2011). Although the impression is often given that data collected is meant for public service purposes like national security, monitoring taxation, payment of salaries and pensions, medical records etc., social data gathered is becoming frequently used for other purposes. Social statistics have become increasingly gathered for the sake of control and for serving state purposes (Whitaker, 1999). Whitaker likens statistical information as 'handles' for controlling the citizenry. The processes of data mining, storage and exploitation are facilitated through the establishment of state structures or apparatuses.
The NSA by ist very title which contains the words 'security' and 'agency' connotes an organization established to secure government interests from external and internal agents, thus evoking suspicion and fear. The agency's ability to speedily present records of phone and social media activities, e-mail, bank account details, medical and other personal data as evidence - often against so called 'people of interest' - is evidence of ist immense surveillance scope and power. The Snowden disclosures prove that NSA literally and meticulously monitors the communications of individuals around the world. This atmosphere of surveillance thus helps to reinforce the US government's power and control over the

Dr. Martin Abdel Matin Gansinger (born 1979 in Austria) studied Communication Science and Political Science at the University of Vienna and is Assistant Professor and Head of Department/Radio, TV & Cinema at Girne American University. He published works on social dimensions and extemporaneous aspects of Free Jazz and HipHop as well as traditional knowledge systems, conducting field research on the Bobo Shanti Rasta Mansion and the Naqshbandi Sufi Order in Ghana, Morocco and Cyprus.
Dr. Ayman Kole (born 1980, Sydney, Australia) is Assistant Professor and Head of Social Media department at Girne American University. He completed his BA and MA at the University of Sydney, and has a PhD from Charles Sturt University. He is the author of the Phoenix Journal finalist 'The Mirror' and the historical novel 'Mark of the Crescent'. His fields include Literature, Media, Creative Writing, and Cultural studies of Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Turkey and Cyprus.