Digital communication tools and practices improve the spread and impact of organisational messages. Quite often, however, they also pose moral problems. This article examines how often public relations practitioners encounter moral issues in their day-to-day work, how they assess digital communication tools and practices in terms of ethics, and the resources on which they rely to tackle moral challenges. Four research questions were addressed in an online survey among 2,324 practitioners who work in PR departments of organisations or in PR agencies across Europe. Results show that PR practitioners face more moral challenges in their daily work than they have faced in the past. Regarding digital communication tools and practices, they report moral concerns especially related to using bots, exploiting personal data for big-data analyses, paying social media influencers, and using sponsored content. Personal values and beliefs are the most important resource for dealing with moral issues—whether because only a minority of practitioners has participated in any formal ethics training within the past three years, or because existing ethical guidelines are outdated. Results call for the development of ethical guidelines that can provide explicit advice in the area of digital communication. Furthermore, structured training programs and ethics courses in graduate programs are needed to enhance practitioners’ ethical knowledge.

数字通信工具和实践可改善组织消息的传播和影响。但是，它们经常也会带来道德问题。本文研究了公共关系从业人员在日常工作中遇到道德问题的频率，他们如何从道德角度评估数字通信工具和实践以及他们用来应对道德挑战的资源。在一项在线调查中，针对在欧洲各组织的PR部门或PR机构工作的2,324名从业人员，提出了四个研究问题。结果表明，公关从业人员在日常工作中面临的道德挑战比以往更多。关于数字通讯工具和实践，他们报告了道德方面的担忧，特别是与使用机器人，利用个人数据进行大数据分析有关的道德问题，支付社交媒体影响者的费用，并使用赞助内容。个人价值观和信仰是处理道德问题的最重要资源–是因为过去三年中只有很少的从业人员参加过任何正式的道德培训，还是因为现有的道德准则已过时。结果要求制定道德准则，这些准则可以在数字通信领域提供明确的建议。此外，需要研究生课程中的结构化培训课程和道德课程，以增强从业人员的道德知识。或因为现有的道德准则已过时。结果要求制定道德准则，这些准则可以在数字通信领域提供明确的建议。此外，需要研究生课程中的结构化培训课程和道德课程，以增强从业人员的道德知识。或因为现有的道德准则已过时。结果要求制定道德准则，这些准则可以在数字通信领域提供明确的建议。此外，需要研究生课程中的结构化培训课程和道德课程，以增强从业人员的道德知识。