Freedom of Speech and Assembly in the Digital Age

The United States is facing challenges in applying First Amendment principles from the eighteenth century to modern communications. Speech and assembly in the eighteenth century was extremely limited when compared to speech now. This chapter examines two cases where the government has intruded upon fundamental rights contained in the First Amendment. In the first case, a government, in an effort to stop a protest, cut off all wireless mobile and Internet communications. This amounted to a digital gag and ear plugs for the protesters. In this case, the responsible government officials did not even contemplate that this might violate the fundamental rights of the protesters. In the second case, government employees were fired for using Facebook to “like” the page of a political candidate. The trial court ruled that “liking” on Facebook was not speech and therefore did not garner constitutional protection. These two cases represent warning signs that the United States, just like other countries, is struggling to adapt eighteenth century legal principles to modern communication. The digital revolution is happening in the United States and the courts will eventually have to develop a new set of rules based on the principles in the First Amendment.

The Music That is Here to Stay

The chapter aims at understanding a recent phenomenon in Mexican politics: the use of Internet and social media as a new and powerful resource for mobilization and social participation in the policy process. Based on a review of two recent movements in Mexico (#YoSoy132 and The Wirikuta Defense Front), the chapter argues that although the Internet is still restricted to the middle and upper classes, the use of social media and its impact transcends class boundaries, draws public attention, creates a valuable social capital for mobilization, and influences the decision-making process. The chapter does not intend to provide evidence to the theoretical discussion on why and how social media enhances political participation and mobilization; rather, it reflects the features shared by these two movements in order to draw some lines for further research. It finds that, if used appropriately, social media is actually an effective tool to facilitate mobilization and modify the public agenda.

Access to Information

Right to information means the right of citizens to have access to information produced by, or held by, public/governmental agencies. This chapter intends to analyze the legal grounds of the right to access to information in Brazil as compared to the best international practice. One of the main risks to good governance and democracy is the use of public resources for private purposes, and the development of new communication technologies, especially the Internet, has revolutionized the manner in which the public interacts with the information available, impacting democratic practices. In November 2011, the adoption of Federal Law 12,527 made Brazil the 89th country in the world, and the 19th in Latin America, to adopt specific legislation implementing the right to access to public information. In Brazil, public authorities, especially the courts, tend to accept easily the allegations of violation of privacy and defamation of those whose interests are harmed or threatened by the broadcasting of information. In the conflict between access to information and private interests, the latter has prevailed. In this context, the Access to Information Law has become a relevant policy to the Brazilian civil society to strengthen and consolidate a democratic political culture and promote institutional maturity.

From Justice That Bites to Justice through Bytes

This chapter follows and recounts the Argentina's Province of Rio Negro project for informatization of its judicial system, which is called “Judicial Proceedings Informatization: Organizational and Informatics Development Plan 2011 – 2013.” The project encompasses technological development and regulatory reform activities that include computer programs, equipment, infrastructure, and personnel training for a three-year period, and here it is presented in three well differentiated segments. The first of them lays down the basis for the whole project, reviewing the background, the strategic vision, and the steps that established the structural basis for advances in the field of justice and informatization, presenting one of the core issues to be solved from the communications point of view that is the complete and geographic organization of the Rio Negro's judiciary. The second explains the ongoing projects in order to link them and translate them into a work schedule and set the budget for their functioning. Finally, the chapter explains specific projects for the triennium, the budget and staffing according to the Provincial Public Sector Internal Control and Financial Management Law, Law H 3186 of 2007.

Electronic Voting System

Mongolia introduced a new electronic voting system for the first time for the 2012 parliamentary election. E-voting empowers citizens by making voting simpler and providing better opportunities for certain groups of citizens to participate in the election process. The electoral reform was one of the major steps the parliament carried out in order to restore public trust lost in the violent protests against the 2008 parliamentary election results. A free, transparent, and fair electoral system was important to correct the fraud in the old election system. This chapter examines the effectiveness of the mixed system of election, the electronic voting system, and other changes to the electoral system in Mongolia.

Digital Media, Secrecy, and International Lawmaking

The introduction of digital technologies in political communications has added new dimensions to international lawmaking and to the interactions between citizens and governments on a global scale. This chapter gives both a theoretical background and concrete examples that demonstrate how the new media has augmented the power of global civil society. The period of time under scrutiny is very recent—end of 20th to beginning of 21st century—and therefore the focus is on treaties as sources of international law, rather than on customary international law. Since international treaties are negotiated both within supra-national structures, like the UN, and also between countries outside of those organizations, the chapter superimposes the two processes with a special emphasis on the culture of secrecy in both cases. The organizations and treaties that are reviewed are the United Nations (in a more general fashion), the World Trade Organization (WTO), and the Anti-Counterfeit Trade Agreement (ACTA), with a mention of the failure of the OECD Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) for a global social movement parallel. The reason for putting those cases in the spotlight is that they deal with trade aspects that affect people the world over. In addition, the protests against them, the anti-globalization ones in Seattle 1999, the 1997 anti-MAI, and the 2012 anti-ACTA movements were all organized and mobilized through the Internet.

Malaysia

While the right to information has in most instances focused on the relationship between the individual and the state, there may be some instances where such a right is impeded due to private restraints or anti-competitive behaviors. This chapter is intended to recapitulate a period in the history of newspaper publishing when private restraints or behaviors that may otherwise be anti-competitive were used in an attempt to kill off a new daily at its inception. The episode took place at a time when there was no competition or antitrust law in force. It occurred when the Internet had just found its way to Malaysia and when printed newspapers were the main tools to disseminate news. This chapter also looks at the essential facilities doctrine and a similar case in another jurisdiction, and how these might have been applied to the episode.

Social Media in China

Widespread use of social media in China is a double-edged sword: social media offers opportunities for the government to connect with society, gauge the opinion of citizens in the public domain, and allow citizens to voice their anger when necessary by blowing off steam online rather than in the streets (Magistad, 2012). However, social media also allows citizens to access information outside of China much more rapidly and efficiently and to link up and communicate with other citizens much more quickly. Social media allows users to share texts, photos, and files, making it much more difficult for the government to control information and to thwart organizing for political purposes. In some instances, the use of social media has forced the Chinese government to take actions that it otherwise would not have done or to reverse actions or policies already set in place. The goal of this chapter is to illustrate the double-edged sword that social media poses to government officials in China, particularly high-level party officials in Beijing.

Information Technology and the Law

In today's globalized society, it is impossible for any country to be isolated and remain disconnected from the information chain. The purpose of this chapter is to highlight the growth of information technology and related laws in Cambodia. Additionally, this chapter gives readers an overview of laws related to information technology, explores how information technologies are transforming Cambodian society, and how the Cambodia government interacts with these technologies. This chapter recommends two main actions that Cambodia can implement to enhance freedom of information: honor the guarantee of freedom of expression by ensuring that Internet filters are not introduced and censorship of critical Websites is not allowed and create a clear legal framework that protects and promotes freedom of expression on the Internet. Limitations on Internet content should only be introduced in accordance with international human rights standards.

Risk Governance and the Role of Digital Communication in Policy Life-Cycle Management

Public policies have to operate in complex, shifting environments structured by several intervening factors related to forces of change at global, national, and regional levels. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) can support policymakers in modeling their policy design and implementation by capturing, analyzing, and acting upon a better assessment of their constituents' needs and expectations. This chapter suggests a way of dealing with the main challenges of applying ICT in policy modeling, emphasizing policy impact exploration, monitoring, and risk governance. The authors propose a conceptual framework for a policy modeling cycle that will support risk governance via continuous risk monitoring and enable proactive reactions in decision-making that go beyond currently available approaches. The chapter discusses the challenges of ICT utilization for policy modeling and the theoretical background of policy modeling. The authors propose a solution that systematically supports the policy modeling cycle and facilitates the stakeholders' activities.