Messages from Microsoft: "Enjoy the Internet along with your children": Constructing family responsibility in cyberspace

Abstract

We often focus on the role of the state in constructing family responsibility. But in the age of the transnational corporation and the internet how relevant is that analysis? Has the state recast the public interest in families in a manner, which is consistent with the interests of such corporations? Or do corporations find themselves constrained by regulators in attempting to exploit the family as a market? This paper explores the extent to which corporate interests construct family responsibility through an analysis of the manner in which Microsoft promotes the role of parental guidance in relation to children's use of the internet. Rather than regarding this activity as that of a good corporate citizen the paper asks whether this occurs in a manner, which ensures that the interests of Microsoft prevail. Beyond that question it also asks how such messages about the role of parents in monitoring and guiding children in cyberspace constructs family responsibility generally. It thus explores the extent to which the state and families have been captured by corporate interests, as well as the extent to which corporate interests co-opt family ideology to further their needs.