The challenges of online public consultations
lessons from the Civil Rights Framework for the Internet
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18617/liinc.v12i1.884Keywords:
Civil Rights Framework for the Internet, Digital democracy, Online participation, Online public consultationsAbstract
This article analyses three public consultation platforms used during the elaboration of the Brazilian law known as "Civil Rights Framework for the Internet". The objective is to evaluate, based on criteria of the literature on digital democracy, how the characteristics of these platforms modeled the process of public participation and what lessons could be learned from this paradigmatic case. Finally, a few of these lessons are enumerated: a) it is necessary to consider distinct publics, experts and non-experts, sundry citizens, and interested organizations; b) occurrence of consultations must be widely disseminated, as well as information on how to participate; c) consultations must be responsive; d) consultations must be accounted for within the decision-making process.
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