Taking rejection personally: An ethical analysis of work rejection on Amazon Mechanical Turk

© 26th European Conference on Information Systems: Beyond Digitization - Facets of Socio-Technical Change, ECIS 2018. All Rights Reserved. Amazon Mechanical Turk (AMT) is a popular microtasking platform connecting those who need work done with those willing to do it. However AMT has come under increasing scrutiny for the way workers are treated on its platform. This paper examines one particular component of AMT's microtasking process by conducting a formal ethical analysis, using Tavani's Comprehensive Cyberethics Methodology, on the way work submitted for evaluation is assessed and either accepted or rejected. The study finds that the system is skewed in favour of those evaluating the work, with little recourse for workers, and an apparent disinterest from AMT. This paper contributes to the continuing debate over the governance of, and responsibilities for, those engaged in digital work through such platforms.