Abstract

This chapter in the Digital Ethics handbook provides an overview and systematization of what digital diplomacy - a subdiscipline of public diplomacy employing social media and other digital tools - is about, and links such practices to models of (digital) ethics. It places public diplomacy within the context of 'soft power' and the ethics of international/global communication and subsequently develops a framework for analyzing digital diplomacy proper. In particular, the ethical concepts of the 'noosphere' and 'noopolitik' are critically assessed and applied to various examples, focusing on key values such as liberty and democracy.