Helen Rethimiotaki Lecturer at Sociology of Law Law Dept, University of Athens

1. European Public Space and digital Political Communication : Facebook as a medium of political participation Helen Rethimiotaki Lecturer at Sociology of Law Law Dept, University of Athens

2. European public space and digital communication : Facebook as a medium of political participation – key points • I. European public sphere and its components • II. The potential of digital communication to broaden political participation: myth and reality • III. Facebook and blogs: beyond private communication could they enable a more direct democracy? • IV. Political rights to be preserved and limits to be set. Are present legal categories be affected?

3. I. European public sphere and its political actors • 1. The end of the permissive consensus to the political project of European Unification • 2. Two notions of European public sphere • 3. The explanatory value of the concept • 4. Actors of participation at the European public sphere

4. The end of the permissive consensus to the political project of European Unification • The political project of European Constitution and the relevant debate ware ahead of the political process of European unification itself • The failure made clear that E.U.’s democratic deficit could not be overcome by substituting a political decision by a legal innovation, that is a Constitution not only without a State but also without (a) People(s). • Meanwhile the last decade E.U. became an object of an intense political antagonism between national political parties. Media comment on its developmental efficiency and the redistributional social problems it creates. Recent research shows a growing negative public opinion mostly related to national identity problems. • Citizen’s rights of participation in the political process of European unification is revaluated

5. The European public sphere : concept definition and explanatory value • There are two major definitions of the concept: • As an arena of vertical communication between European institutions and European citizens about European affairs. This is a liberal conception and a pragmatic definition. The citizens form an opinion and they provide feedback to the institutions. • As a network of horizontal communication, information and opinion exchange among citizens, media actors and social groups regarding European issues. The same themes with similar frames of reference can be discussed by a transnational community, that is speakers and listeners recognizing each other. This requires a minimum of common cultural reference.

6. The European public sphere : concept definition and explanatory value • The explanatory value is under empirical investigation i.e. by studying newspaper transnational references regarding major events such as EC summits. • There also theoretical objections • The political subject that the discussion is referred to can not be clearly indentified • There is a great linguistic and cultural heterogeneity among European citizens • However the concept still represents a fundamental democratic prerequisite: citizens have to get information and argumentation, in order to form an opinion. They have to be able to express their consent or dissent.

7. Actors of participation at the European public sphere • European institutions: they have to diffuse their positions and largely debate about them. They also have to answer the citizens’ questions and be able to get a feedback. • European and national political parties: they have to formulate the political dimensions of the policy choices. The have to reveal the short and long-term consequences of these choices also to national level. • Mass media: they have to systematically refer to European issues in order to make visible European actors, issues and policies and the European aspect of national issues • Civil society associations (private companies and NGOs): their positions should be expressed and considered

8. II.The potential of digital communication to broaden political European participation • A remedy to the crisis of representational national democracies and E.U.’s deliberative deficit? • Social researches findings and critical approach • Conclusions about digital communication and participationat the E.U. public sphere

9. Digital communication: a remedy to the crisis of representational democracy and E.U.’s democratic deficit? • Technological advantage: it is interactive, it can be used from both sides, that is bottom down and bottom up. • Economical advantage: lower cost and less time consuming • Political advantage: it can bridge the gap between the national political system and European institutions of decision making. Nation-State’s power is reduced and there is a growing communicative tension between political parties and the spontaneous and unorganized civil society. • Cultural advantage: late modern fragmented selves dispose a weak sense of belonging to a political community. Private, personal und unofficial mingles with public, common and institutional. Using SNS young people participate in a different voice without even having the intention to do it .

10. Social researches findings and critical approach • Social inequalities are reproduced: people with higher socioeconomic status and education. The most active online are already active offline. • Rational critical debate differs from simple registration of individual views. The question is not to be able to produce information but if it is visible and how much does it influence decisions. • Digital political communication is fragmented. It can not per se transform dumb mobs to smart mobs and it does not constitute a virtual public sphere • Anonymity and possibility of shifting identities means lack of solid commitment. • Intrusion of commercial interests due to potential advertising .

11. Conclusions about digital communication and participationat the E.U. public sphere • Digital communication can not either: • subvert the structural political conditions of the European integration political process, the fact that it does not just reproduce national, representative democracies at another level • replace the traditional political communicators who retain the full capacity of defining shared problems and their solutions • However it has potentials if the political system is firmly committed to a more citizen centric function: it can • facilitate the effort of political actors to link back participation to representation • connect transnational publics around specific matters despite their cultural differences • express strong political opposition and indicate about E.U. democratic deficit

12. III. Social Network Sites: Could they enable a more direct democracy ? • Theoretical questions • Empirical data: political communication from the bottom down perspective • Empirical data: political participation from the bottom up perspective • Provisional conclusions

13. Theoretical questions about the use of SNS within the European public sphere • In mid 2000 there has been a paradigmatic shift of EU political communication strategy (White Paper on European Communication Policy, COM 2006,35) • The principal target was to elaborate policies through participatory debates with all key actors and citizens • Could SNS help by introducing elements of direct democracy within European public sphere? • To stimulate (young audiences) to get informed, to form an opinion and express their consent or contestation • To enhance citizens participation by enabling them to make their own public news and redefine the political agenda?

14. Empirical data: Political communication from the bottom down perspective • European Parliament carried an effective campaign on You Tube during 2009 elections. It created a Facebook and Twitter profile and on line chats about European issues. However its results can not be compared with President Obama Facebook supports group. • Facebook and blogging were used by political parties during EP’s elections 2009 in new members e.g. Bulgaria where they had considerable influence. However generally citizens are more keen to political participation due to former restricted freedom of political communication. • Today the majority of MEP use them. However it is verified that their users are any how visiting on line news paper and they already get information from EU focused media

15. Empirical data: Political participation from the bottom up pespective • The study of Internet communication from bottom up perspective by webometrics methods e.g. using search engines has just begun. • The French blogosphere played an important role in mobilizing the rejection of European Constitution • Analysis of material uploaded on the Web regarding EU verified that the main news providers are institutional actors and not individuals or civil society • Actually runs RECON (Reconstituting Democracy in Europe) research program focused at on line sphere from below (relevant communications in Facebook and independent blogging through user commenting). It will evaluate its informative quality and compare it to the professional journalist websites

16. Facebook & blogs: Provisional Conclusions and open questions • Technologies are appropriated in ways shaped by the social conditions within they are immersed. They can not alone restructure the emerging European public sphere • The employment of interactive web bottom down to communicate with European citizens about European matters may it be used either to modernize representative democracy in a consumerist model or to accelerate pluralism and inclusion to decision making process • Used bottom up it can either simply defuse political pressure or express opposition in a single campaign issue as seen in case of European constitution. For the moment the acceleration of radical direct action (like in North Africa and middle East countries) seems remote because of different political conditions and perceptions of` EU

17. V. Rights to be preserved and limits to be set: are present legal categories affected? Freedom of political expression and right of participation within EPS is protected. Should limits be imposed e.g. against racism, fascism or terrorism? Political data are sensitive personal data and informational privacy of users should be guaranteed. Secrecy of communication may be exceptionally protected if users have chosen pseudonym or adequate privacy settings For present legal framework it is difficult to administrate the private/public merge in case of political participation through SNS

18. Freedom of political expression and right of political participation to EPSh: European general legal framework • According to art. 11 of European charter of fundamental rights every one has freedom of expression and information (to receive and to impart information) • According to art. 8 European charter every one has the right to the protection of personal data concerning him or her • According to art. 7. of European charter every one has the right to respect for his private life • Freedoms are also protected by ECHR • According to article 10.3 TEU every citizen has the right to participate in the democratic life of Union • EU institutions are required to inform citizens and publicly exchange their views (art 11 TEU ). They also have to ensure public debate about European issues (art 15,16 TEU)

19. Should limits be imposed? Is it actually feasible? • Although technology is depicted as incontrollable in reality freedom of political expression was restricted e.g in north Africa where Facebook was used to express and organize political opposition. • On line political propaganda by far right political groups in Europe was also restricted and protest campaign activities have been monitored • Political freedom is not absolute but it can be proportionally restricted under legally defined conditions and with legal guarantees • The level of tolerance of democratic threat vary in Europe e.g. according the German Constitution even political parties can be banned or dissolved if their existence threats the democratic order.

20. Informational privacy and application of Directive 95/46/EC about protection of personal data • The provisions of the Directive apply to the providers of SNS even if their headquarters are located out of European space (Group 29, Opinion 5/09) • Political data are sensitive personal data their protection is higher. Users must consent to any kind of processing. • They have the right of access, correction and deletion of their political profile • Other users definitely have the same obligations because diffusing political personal data overcomes private social contacts

21. Is secrecy of users communication protected or should State authorities have access to SNS? • SNS falls out of the scope of definition of electronic communication provided from Directive (2002/21/EC) • However the secrecy of communication is protected (both name of communicant and communication content) in case that the user has chosen a pseudonym and privacy settings • In this case a special procedure for disclosure of the identity and the message content should be predicted

22. Law and the social trend to public/private merge • Social perceptions of privacy change as limits between public and private fade. Especially young people make public personal data without even realize how far can information travel and in which way it can be used • But at the same time social uses of technology shift from leisure to business and politics • The existing legal framework need to be adopted because the basic rights of users must still be protected