The internet challenges the power of traditional media.
On World Internet Day, Brazilians are increasingly expressing themselves and challenging the pre-packaged information they receive from the media; the challenge is to accelerate digital inclusion in Brazil.
247 – This May 17th, the world celebrates World Internet Day, a date established by the United Nations in 2005 to represent digital inclusion. Despite still facing significant challenges in this area, Brazil certainly has one of the countries with the most reasons to celebrate. It's no coincidence that this morning, Twitter users made the term "Dia Mundial da Internet" (World Internet Day) a worldwide trending topic, reflecting the significant impact the subject has had on social media among Brazilians.
The initial power of the internet, to connect people from different parts of the planet, is undeniably much greater today. The World Wide Web has changed the role of the spectator and reader, who previously found themselves on the "other side of the counter" of the media, with the simple role of reading and watching. Today – and we see this growing strongly in Brazil – citizens have the power to express opinions, collaborate, and, above all, demand accountability. Vital factors in this revolution, social networks – fundamental in movements that led to the fall of governments in the so-called Arab Spring, in the Middle East and North Africa – are the main means for these collaborations.
In this scenario, what was vertical has become horizontal, as if the same scenario could be visualized by everyone. Irregularities in government (such as the issues involving the Cachoeira CPI and contracts with Delta), suspicious relationships between journalists and sources (for example, the case of Veja, the target of several protests on Twitter recently), and even poor customer service (see the case of Claro, prominently reported by 247) no longer go unnoticed after attentive readers began to protest in these virtual environments. It is no wonder that television viewership in the country has already been surpassed by internet viewership. The study "Connected Brazil – Media Consumption Habits," which investigated the growing importance of the web in the daily lives of Brazilians, shows that the internet is considered the most important medium for 82% of the 2.075 respondents (read more).
To make the revolution even more complete, Brazil now needs to expedite government actions to reverse some of these figures. A study prepared by the Getulio Vargas Foundation and the Telefonica Foundation, released this Wednesday, the 15th, reveals that only 33% of households in the country have internet access. In addition to the low percentage of Brazilian homes, access to the internet is still very unequal, which only highlights the different economic and social situations according to the region of the country. While in Brasília the rate of connected households is 58,69%, in Maranhão the same figure represents only 10,98% of homes. In some places, there is another problem: some of the reasons for not having internet access are lack of interest or knowledge, which also involves a major change in education.