Investigating media factors affecting the increase of students' online cheating

The purpose of this research is to investigate and explain media factors affecting the occurrence of online cheating in Iran. This research is of a qualitative type that has used the analytical descriptive method. Therefore, the key concepts including disloyality, internet disloyality, and media were defined according to the background of past researches that were more related to the subject, and then eight factors were identified as media factors that had more influence than others and they were explained and described. The media factors affecting virtual cheating are limited to two main factors that each of these is converted into four sub-factors: 1- media underlying factors that include addiction, lack of real identity authentication, easy access and low cost, and 2 - Debilitating factors of the media, which include promoting atheism, changing lifestyles, destroying privacy and globalization. The results indicated that the media and virtual networks gradually shake the adherence of their users and audiences to the values and norms accepted in the culture and as a result the security of the family's heart. Also that social media which promotes globalization hurts the family’s lifestyle and the native pattern and the attitude and religious beliefs, and with the normalization of extramarital relationships, they become the basis for the occurrence of online infidelity in the first place and marital infidelity in the final place. So it is suggested that due to the unfamiliarity and novelty of the concept of online cheating for a many people in the society, especially young people, more awareness should be given about it with different and appropriate methods and tools by cultural, social and educational authorities.