The Parliamentary Front for Freedom of Expression and the Right to Communication with Popular Participation was launched by Brazilian lawmakers on April 19, Agência Câmara dos Deputados reports.
The initiative was created with the goal of expanding the participation of civil society groups that favor expanding freedom of expression and democratizing communications in a country described by Federal Deupty Emiliano José as having “media [ownership] deeply concentrated in the hands of a few families,” Terra reports.
Members of the block see 2011 as an important year for the media democratization movement in Brazil. The caucus supports a proposed revision to the regulatory framework governing telecommunications and the National Broadband Plan, which it sees as means to reduce media concentration and expand internet access.
According to Deputy Luiza Erundina, the front will serve to expand the dialog on media policy.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
