ethics-TWONy Demonstrator

TWONs can help understand the effects of platform design – but this can also be a risk

Digital Twins of Online Social Networks (TWONs) are highly advanced and realistic computer models that mimic an original online social network as closely as possible. They can simulate how and to what extent platform design, as well as specific algorithms, yield undesirable outcomes, such as societal polarisation or the dissemination of incivil and harmful content. They can help us optimise the design of online social networks with respect to social, ethical, and democratic objectives. Accordingly, TWONs might be a powerful tool for regulating platforms.

On the other hand, taming one technology by creating another can give rise to a number of risks of its own. With regard to TWONs, societal risks are immediately conceivable: by leveraging vast datasets about users and by intricately representing user behaviour, TWONs have the potential to be used in ways that are contrary to the interests of individuals and societies alike. This is why we must carefully examine the ethical implications of different modes of regulating TWONs, so that decision-makers have the tools at hand to make a well-founded decision. There needs to be a public discussion on the usage and regulation of TWONs.

Should TWONs be accessible to the general public, or to researchers only?

As TWONs can potentially be abused by actors with harmful interests, we need to carefully consider whom to give access to them. And that's where our tool ethics-TWONy comes into play.

Below you find a set of statements that argue either for general public access to TWONs or for limited, researcher-only access. Drag and drop (or simply click) the statements you find most convincing into the option basket. Then click “Calculate” and evaluate your own standpoint in the debate. The further the marker is on the left side of the bar, the more the pro-public-access arguments resonated with you; the further right, the more of your chosen statements were pro-researcher-only access.

Read more about the ethical considerations of building a TWON in our first policy brief.