The term “digital decency” refers to the ethical and moral benchmark measure to be applied to human behaviour in the context of digital technologies, which is based on a consensus prevailing in a social group or society and on which expectations and evaluations in social interaction are therefore based.

The concept of “Digital Decency” expresses the assumption that in a social group there is a shared view of the ethical and moral standards to be applied to human behaviour and that the expectations and assessments of behaviour in social interaction are based on these standards. With regard to digital technologies, this standard is referred to as “digital decency”.

The term “digital decorum” has the same meaning as “digital decency”. The terms “digital etiquette” and “netiquette” are closely related, but somewhat narrower.

How to Cite

The definition given above was proposed as part of the Digital Era Framework by Dr. Dr. Jörn Lengsfeld. The text was first published in: Jörn Lengsfeld: Digital Era Framework. Please refer to the original publication if you want to cite the text.