Cyberactivism and media accountability: right to communication in facebook group “movement for the preservation of tve/fm cultura”

Resumen

The extinction of Fundação Piratini (a public foundation comprising of a public television network, TVE, and a public radio service, FM Cultura), in Porto Alegre, Brazil, which was approved by the State Legislative Council, undermines the right to communication of the people of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. This extinction, which was part of the “reduction of the State” package of Governor Ivo Sartori (PMDB), forced people from various sections of the society to create actions of control over the government and the legislative power. In this paper, we discuss cyberactivism promoted by the Facebook group “Movement for the Preservation of TVE/ FM Cultura”, which was created on January 29, 2015. Our research hypothesis is that through cyberactivism this group promotes accountability by divulging information that is not being broadcast or debated by either the private media or the public broadcasters, which have been shot down by administrators appointed by the government that proposed its extinction.