Journalists and activists propose measures to democratize communication during the local elections
Brasil de Fato
Fighting disinformation, protecting data and promoting popular media and community communication are some of the items in a document approved last Sunday (30) by the National Forum for the Democratization of Communication (FNDC, in Portuguese) with proposals for this year’s municipal elections.
The document “Elections 2024: the communication we want”, created during a national plenary of the movement, will be delivered to all candidates for mayor and city councilor in the 20 Brazilian states where the Forum is organized with information advocating that all municipalities implement the Access to Information Service (provided for in the Access to Information Law); set up municipal communication councils; adopt free software in municipal administration and build rigorous ethical standards for surveillance technologies, among other topics.
The demands were divided into three axes: public policies for democratic communication in cities and towns, institutional communication in city halls and infrastructure for data protection.
Declaration of repudiation targeting the Minister of Communications
Created in 1980 at the same time as the Constituent Assembly, the FNDC currently brings together around 500 organizations, including associations, unions, collectives and NGOs working in the communication sector.
The 25th national plenary was held on 29 and 30 June and was attended by 12 regional committees, represented by 36 delegates and 40 observers.
In addition to the election-related document, the event presented a report by the Social Participation Working Group at the Brazilian Communication Company (EBC), which plans to set up the National System for Social Participation in Public Communication.
The plenary also approved a declaration of repudiation to show its discontent with Juscelino Filho’s permanence as Brazil’s minister of communications.
“Our goal is to articulate the defense of democracy based on the struggle for democratizing communication. We had positive and important debates for organizing our actions in the Brazilian states,” said FNDC’s general coordinator, Admirson Ferro Júnior. “The electoral platform will be a fundamental tool to encourage debates in different places in Brazil,” he said.
