Digital Rights During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Latin America

Comunicação e Sociedade

María Soledad Segura¹  Ana Bizberge² 

[1] Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina/Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Facultad de Ciencias de la Comunicación, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Córdoba, Argentina;Instituto de Estudios de América Latina y el Caribe, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina;

关键词: digital rights;    internet;    covid-19;    lockdown;    Latin America;   

DOI  :  10.17231/comsoc.39(2021).2852

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

This article discusses digital rights during covid-19 pandemic. It offers a comparative analysis of the measures that affected digital rights to freedom of expression, access and privacy implemented by governments and private companies (internet service providers and internet intermediaries) between March and August 2020 in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. It also studies reactions from civil society and international organizations. The theoretical framework draws on human rights provisions about progressive and regressive policy making. The central questions are: how are digital rights of freedom of expression, access and privacy affected by companies and governments during the period under consideration in the three countries studied? How have civil society organizations and international organizations position themselves with regards to these digital rights? It is based on a comparative analysis of how government, private sector, and civil society stakeholders have responded to the information and communications technology governance challenges created by the pandemic, and how their governance responses have impacted human rights in the areas of freedom of expression, access, and privacy. Answering these questions is relevant to identify and understand the precedent that these strategies — developed in an exceptional context — could set for the post-crisis scenario, which exceeds the scope of this article. Conclusions show that public policies adopted during covid-19 varied in the three countries. However, in the three, both progressive and regressive measures can be identified. The companies developed regressive strategies, implemented some progressive but exceptional measures; while civil society and international organizations promoted progressive and long-term solutions.

【 授权许可】

Unknown