Digital Democracy and the Electoral Law on the Internet

Period: January 2015

Involved Institutions: IRIS, Grou for Studies and Research on Innovation (GEPI), FGV-SP, School of Applied Math of the Getulio Vargas Foundation – EMAp

Subject: Global Internet Governance and Digital Democracy: Relationship between the Electoral Law and Freedom of Expression in Brazil.

Description: The Digital Democracy and Electoral Law on the Internet seeks to establish milestones for the quantitative and qualitative analysis of decisions by the Electoral Justice in Brazil, on all instances, on conflicts related to the forced removal of content on networks involving candidates for the 2014, 2016 and 2018 elections. As an issue which pertains to Internet Governance, removal of content on social networks, blogs and sites has frequently been discussed on academic circles and by civil society, through the perspective of freedom of expression and principles of the Rule of Law. One of the studied phenomena is the intensification of electoral disputes on digital environments. In Brazil, the use of the Internet on electoral contexts was regulated by laws 12.034/2009 and 12.891/2014, which altered the Brazilian Electoral Law (9.504/1997). Amongst the provisions altered or included by said laws there is Article 57-D, which rules freedom of expression and the expression of political opinions concerning electoral disputes through the Internet. The research seeks to understand the shapes and developments of this new reality on the Brazilian context and to establish the first parameters of interpretation and application of the Electoral Law in synch with Internet Governance Principles.