| Abstrakt: |
Social media (SM) is a rapidly evolving set of technologies primarily encompassing a group of social networking sites, such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, that enable efficient, accessible global communication within a social network. For many people, SM is reshaping their social world, rewriting the rules of social engagement and sociability. The use of SM has grown drastically in the past decade. Referring to data released by the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), more than half of the population are internet users, and more than half of the population of internet users visit social networking platforms as their online activities. The data also showed that most internet users are between the ages of 20 to 40. Despite the drastic changes in SM uses, many ethical and social issues have arisen and have not been given attention. Among university students, some critical issues resulting from the existence of SM are the spread of fake news, online harassment, privacy issues, and cyberbullying. Therefore, this research aims to explore the ethical and social issues in SM among university students in Malaysia. The research applied a qualitative research methodology whereby purposive sampling was used to seek respondents with some knowledge or expertise relevant to the study. The results revealed that university students' ethical and social issues are internet addiction, fake news, digital privacy, plagiarism, and cyberbullying. The Ministry of Higher Education can focus on the ethical and social issues prevalent among university students in Malaysia so that they can overcome these issues and thus find the best solution to prevent these issues from happening among the students. These ethical and social issues can, to some extent, threaten their status as students, which can affect the quality of their studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
