Communication, Cultural, and Digital Rights in Pandemic Argentina: Government and Civil Society's Role

Abstract

This article analyzes experiences of nationwide enjoyment and exercise of communication, cultural, and digital rights in state and community instances from a human rights‐based approach. The period covered goes from 2019—a year before the outbreak of the Covid‐19 pandemic in Argentina and the implementation of the preventive measures—to 2023, a year after they were lifted. In view of the increasing inequalities in the fields of communication, culture, and connectivity during the Covid‐19 pandemic, we ask, to what extent did the three branches of government operate effectively as guarantors of rights; what policies were designed to this effect, and how did socio‐community organizations influence public policies or develop self‐managed strategies for the exercise of these rights? The methodology a qualitative analysis of a wide survey of publicly available information, using a method based on a human rights and communication policymaking approach. The article concludes that the executive and legislative branches designed public policies to expand all three rights, but such policies turned out to be insufficient. The judicial acted mostly as an obstacle to the exercise of rights, serving the capture of policies by economic elites. Civil society organizations developed strategies for participation and advocacy in rights‐promoting public policies. At the same time, they self‐managed initiatives to guarantee such rights. The state would on occasion collaborate in the development of these efforts.