Because it is easy to set up, it can attract frivolous causes, or jokes framed in the ostensible form of a petition.
Without safeguards online petitions may to be abused if signers don't use real names. This may invalidate the legitimacy of the petition itself. Verification, for example via a confirmation e-mail can prevent padding a petition with false names and e-mails and many petition sites now have such safeguards to match real world processes such as local governments requiring protest groups to present petition signatures, plus their printed name, and a way to verify the signature (either with a phone number or identification number via a driver's license or a passport) to ensure that the signature is legitimate and not falsified by the protestors.
There are now several major web initiatives featuring online petitions, for example Change.org, Avaaz.org and 38 Degrees. These are growing in popularity and in their ability to achieve political impact. The Economist comments that Avaaz has had "some spectacular successes" but raises questions about what objective measures can be used to assess "the reach of a global e-protest movement".
Some legitimate non-governmental organizations (NGOs) shun online petitions for various reasons. The track record of online petitions is also another reason why some NGOs shun them, as there are few examples of this form of petition achieving its objective, and critics frequently cite it as an example of slacktivism.
In February 2007 an online petition against road pricing and car tracking on the UK Prime Minister's own website attracted over 1.8 million e-signatures from a population of 60 million people. The site was official but experimental at the time. Shocked government ministers were unable to backtrack on the site's existence in the face of national news coverage of the phenomenon. The incident has demonstrated both the potential and pitfalls of online e-Government petitions. It remains to be seen if policy will be permanently affected.
Some parliaments, government agencies and officials, such as The Scottish Parliament with the e-Petitioner system (from 1999), the Queensland Parliament in Australia, German Bundestag (from 2005) and Bristol City Council in the U.K have adopted electronic petitioning systems as a way to display a commitment to their constituents and provide greater accessibility into government operations.
Under the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009 the petitions duty requires all principal authorities to provide a facility for people to submit petitions electronically. This requirement will come into force on December 15, 2010.
Other groups are attempting to establish electronic petitioning as a way to streamline and make more accessible, existing citizens' initiative processes.
Category:World Wide Web Category:Petitions Category:Politics and technology
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