Several organisations - for example Avaaz.org - promote citizen engagement on the internet by inviting us to complete online petitions to show our support for certain causes.
Advocates for mass e-petitions say:
"Avaaz—meaning "voice" in several European, Middle Eastern and Asian languages—launched in 2007 with a simple democratic mission: organize citizens of all nations to close the gap between the world we have and the world most people everywhere want."
People who are concerned about e-petitions say that it is not easy to know what 'the world most people everywhere want' is; and that every petition posted has just one option - you can click to support the petition, otherwise you will not have a voice.
The latest petition on Avaaz is about the internet. The petition - to US congress - says:
"As concerned global citizens, we call on you to stand for a free and open Internet and vote against both the Protect IP Act and the Stop Online Piracy Act. The Internet is a crucial tool for people around the world to exchange ideas and work collectively to build the world we all want. We urge you to show true global leadership and do all you can to protect this basic pillar of our democracies worldwide."
The Avaaz site does not link to the Bill itself. It merely says - without explaining why - that the Bill is a threat to free speech and democracy. In fact the Bill - which is linked here - attempts to prevent breach of copyright and intellectual property rigths, which is rife on the internet, and which many film and music providers regard as basic theft.
There is no background information on the site, no chance for citizens to explore different points of view, and no encouragement to think.
The internet can be used by citizens to protest and to have a voice, but if that voice has been manipulated and is ignorant of the facts, is this worse than no voice at all?
Read More
www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_internet/?fp www.salon.com/2011/11/20/congress_seeks_to_tame_the_internet/singleton/ www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h112-3261 It is proposed that e-petition sites should at least give citizens the opportunity to sign petitions for OR against a proposition