A control approach to address ethical issues on social (robotic) networks

Abstract From the first Internet-based social networking applications designed to get people in contact and make friends to social networks made up of over 2 billion users, the combination of communication networks, portable devices, and AI has changed the way people interact and make decisions. The extent of this influence could be observed not only in marketing and social behavior but also in referendums and elections, leading to distortion of democratic manifestations and representations. Considering this, the consequences of the misuse of Internet-based social networks could have a substantial impact on society, and it is important to define ethical guidelines and policies for developers, rulers, operators, and social actors. Considering this aim, the objective of this paper is to show that an approach based on Systems & Control could be effective in evaluating the impact of such policies in order to meet ethical issues. The starting point from this analysis are the models of information spreading in dynamic social networks, and these models are adapted and updated to encompass the complex behavior from users, as well as some regulatory policies. The analyses were based on simulations of these models on small and large scale networks.