Revealing the Dark Side of the Internet: A Governance Framework Based on Users' Negative Psychology

The purpose of this study is to reveal the dark side in the development of the internet and to establish a hierarchical framework for exploring its governance path based on users' negative psychology. However, the establishment of a hierarchical governance framework is a process of dealing with the interrelationships between aspects and criteria. Therefore, a decision-making and trial evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) is proposed to manage these complex interrelationships, and interpretive structural modeling (ISM) contributes to dividing the hierarchy. The results show that (1) the institutional system is the driver of internet governance improvement, (2) personal values are the last link in the governance process, (3) the governance transition from the institutional system to personal values must cross the barriers of ethics and technology, and (4) the governance framework for the dark side of the internet must be built based on four aspects: the institutional system, ethics, technology, and personal values. This paper focuses on the negative psychological problems of Internet users and proposes a more systematic and integrated hierarchical framework, providing theoretical guidelines for governing the dark side of the internet.