Ethics and Values in the Digital Environment: by the Example of Parody Videos on TikTok

Abstract

The ethics of the comic is a relatively new interdisciplinary field of knowledge that is gaining new relevance with the development of a variety of social media. The purpose of this article is to review the existing research and show by examples how ethics and values are closely related to the specific functions of social media, such as distributing parody content and commenting on it. The main focus of our study is a parody which can be defined as communicative behavior in the form of a text, movement, or even a song, imitating the characteristics or behavior of the object being ridiculed. Unlike a literal quotation, a parody reproduces the original in a distorted form for the purpose of mockery. Within this article modern ethical approaches to the evaluation of parody as well as the main functions of parody in the digital environment are considered. Based on the examples of parody videos on TikTok the particular ways of expressing social problems and cultural traumas by using the comic strategies are identified. Furthermore, the issues of algorithmic censorship concerning such videos as well as the problem of the moral autonomy of users are discussed.

Keywords

• ethics of parody
• ethical expertise
• parody videos
• digital media
• values of humor
• informational services
• tiktok
• humor censorship
• humor as social criticism
• cultural trauma