Anonymity and distance from victims weaken moral restraint in cybercrime

Evidence

Rubin (1994) describes certain characteristics of electronic technologies that can increase the propensity for moral disengagement. Transgressive acts can be performed privately and anonymously against depersonalized or faceless victims located thousands of miles away. Breaking into an office to steal paper files is difficult to execute, as is escaping detection. But with the right malware, hackers can break into web sites with minimal effort and without leaving tracks or displacing of the owner’s property. The notions of breaking and entering and burglary in the cyberworld are more likely to be viewed by computer hackers as metaphorical rather than criminal. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 474

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to Milgram’s and Zimbardo’s classic findings on how distancing and depersonalization of victims lower obedience-related harm, which the chapter’s forward will elaborate. — connects to: Modern anonymity does not weaken regard-based social sanctions. — Philip Pettit, Republicanism: A Theory of Freedom and…, 1029