Monetising Waste: Islamic Legal and Business Ethical Perspectives on Profits Generated from Wasteful YouTube Content
Year: 2023
Type: article
Abstract: The attention economy enables acts of consumption and the destruction of goods in YouTube content to generate economic value through views, engagement and digital monetisation. This situation raises legal and ethical issues when wastefulness—which is normatively problematic—actually functions as a productive input in the digital economy. This study analyses the status of such actions, monetised revenue and the legitimacy of profits to formulate ethical boundaries for the monetisation of wastefulness according to contemporary Islamic law. The research employs a qualitative method based on a literature review, utilising a critical approach to Islamic economic law, fiqh al-muamalah, and Islamic business ethics. Data is sourced from legislation, journal articles, academic books, institutional documents, and relevant literature on contemporary economics and digital monetisation. Data were collected through documentation and subsequently analysed using Miles’s stages: data condensation, data presentation, and the systematic drawing and verification of conclusions. The findings indicate that economic productivity does not automatically eliminate isrāf or tabdhīr, as assessment depends on purpose, benefit, proportionality, alternatives and impact. Income status is determined through the link between actions and monetisation, primarily based on intent, the prevalence of wastefulness, transaction structures, sources of payment, and the separation of income. The study formulates the paradox of productive wastefulness, an income correlation test, and an ethical legitimacy test to distinguish proportional production costs from the monetisation of wastefulness. Further research needs to test this framework empirically through studies of content creators, audiences, algorithms, monetisation models, and social and environmental impacts.
Author: Repelita, Repelita
Institution: Institut Agama Islam Negeri Kerinci
Language: English
Subfield: Accounting
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W7220437962