Information and communication technologies (ICT)-enabled severe moral communities and how the (Covid19) pandemic might bring new ones

Abstract

In this study we present an autopoietic social systems model based on Collectively Prevalent Interpretants (CPIs). We adapt this model to represent and exemplify how Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) may enable the emergence of severe moral communities. In particular, we argue that ICTs may help severe moral communities promote increasingly polarized, radicalized and even extremist viewpoints. We also discuss our propositions in the context of the current pandemic (caused by Covid19) and warn about the possible emergence of new and related severe moral communities. In an effort to help understand and manage the enabling role of ICTs, the study also presents recommendations for theory and practice, which may prove useful in advancing digital resiliency (by empowering individuals and communities to recognize when this may be occurring).