For most people who use social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter, there has long been a kind of grudging acceptance that online abuse comes with the digital territory.

Similarly, for those working within the tech companies themselves, volatility and unrelenting expectations are the price of doing business in this dynamic new sector.

But as the human toll of online abuse begins to be counted, and more and more former tech employees are shedding light on toxic work environments, questions are increasingly being asked about the ethical framework that governs our digital age.

Can common decency survive in a time of digital disruption?

Or will technology consume itself without some injection of moral sentiments?