Meaningful Online Consent: Sharing Online Content and Information
Meaningful consent
Is agreement of the able people to participate in an action after becoming fully aware of its aim, scope and consequences and without coercion, obligation or power imbalance between the participating parties.
When does consent become necessary?
-While giving out your personal information with forms and trackers
-When someone wants to include you in their online content
-When you want to include anyone in your online content
-While sharing private conversations with others
-While sharing e-mails, phone numbers and addresses of others
-While capturing photos and videos that include others in a personally identifiable manner
-Resharing content of others (i.e. photos, tweets) with a different audience than theirs
-Forwarding your private communications with others
When someone asks your consent
You should give your consent to participate in an action
-With awareness of the aim, full scope and consequences
-Freely, without pressure from anyone including your friends
-Specifically, for that action and for that instance only
-Without a feeling of obligation or duress
-By first considering your own need for privacy and security
-With guidance and permission of your parents
I am adding my suggestions for icons in red.
While asking the consent of others
Ask yourself
How might my actions make my friend feel?
Communicate directly
With your friend without any intermediaries or suppositions.
Inform your friend
About what content you intend to share, why, where, how, and in which context
Ask your friend
Do you want to…?
Make sure
That you don’t make your friend doesn’t feel like they have to agree.
Don’t pesterYou arer friend if your friend says NO even if you don’t understand.
Don’t move forward
If your friend is unsure.
Take down
The content if later on your friend feels uncomfortable and changes their mind
Check-in
With your friends before sharing more content about them even if they had once accepted for you to share content about them
I actually think that this part is more important and therefore deserve the icons, but the list is too long so let me know if that is possible.
If someone makes an action that concerns without your meaningful consent
-Don’t hesitate to make your objection known even if you become aware after they have already shared
-Tell a trusted person what happened and be open to their support
-Report the content that includes you to be taken down by the platform administration
-Block or restrict the person that has done this inconsiderate act
-Apply to authorities if it turns into repeated harassment
Don’t forget that any content put online can become forever accessible by anyone, including the people you will meet in the future and your future self!