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Article History

Received: 3 May 2024

Accepted: 20 September 2024

First Online: 2 October 2024

Declarations

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: I provided information about the inquiry and received active, informed consent to participate from all participants at the time of data gathering in 2010. I obtained ethical approval to conduct the interview from the Norwegian Regional Committees for Medical and Health Research Ethics (REK), Western region, with the reference “2010/1101.” I furthermore closely adhered to guidelines from the Norwegian National Committee for Research Ethics in the Social Sciences and the Humanities. In 2010 in Norway, to my understanding, openly published information on the Internet was considered to be publicly available for research purposes. To my knowledge, regulations and a research ethical authority (‘internal review board’) were yet to be developed for applying for ethical approval to engage in research on openly published information. The guidelines nevertheless advised that authors of information on the Internet should be asked for permission to use their material and to protect their anonymity.

: Not applicable.

: The authors declare no competing interests.