Brazilian activists launch @mega_nao campaign protesting #ai5digital that would limit #netfreedom
Aiming to crack down on Internet crime, Brazilian congressman Eduardo Azeredo has introduced Law 84/99, which would spell out various penalties for illegal actions online. The Brazilian Institute for Consumer Defense, however, insists that the goal of this bill is much more sinister. According to the Institute, file sharing and even blogging could become punishable offenses, and Internet privacy and freedom would be compromised.Experts, as well as a petition with more than 163000 signatories, have backed this conclusion.
A coherent campaign has emerged to oppose the bill, calling itself Mega Não! (Mega No! in Portuguese). Their blog states that their goal is to “oppose vigilantism, combat threats to Internet freedom, fight the attack on network neutrality.” The Wordpress-housed site also contains links to pages of downloadable posters, and listings of partner blogs, events, and ways to get involved. In order to draw more to their cause, they have begun calling the bill “AI-5 Digital”—a name that harkens back the freedom-limited days of Brazil’s military dictatorship. Twitter users can display publicly their support by adding the Mega No! Twibbon to their account.
The movement is small; they have a mere 148 likes on Facebook and 683 followers on Twitter. Yet, the group has ambitious plans, including a live broadcast of a theatre performance pledging their opposition to the bill, and a campaign to win a FRIDA Award, given to those who “collaborate significantly with the use of the Internet as a catalyst for change in Latin America and the Caribbean.”
