Argentina

Introduction
With one of the largest land coverage in South America and with diverse
landscapes, Argentina is state that has much to offer. Being one of the most
cosmopolitan and crowded cities in South America, Buenos Aires, Argentina’s capital, is
home to one-third of Argentina’s total population. Majority of Argentinans are in digital
spaces and platforms, either employed, for entertainment, for communication, or a
combination of the three; resulting in an equal as diverse digital landscape. Similar to
other South American countries, Argentina is just now proposing policies that pertain to
its digital landscape. Though there is a lack of proposed policies and several in moition
about its digital landscape that would give Argentina that push to match other states on
the international stage. Argentina has the potential to grow and be an example for other
countries in South America.

Section one: Background

To gain a better insight into Argentina, it is important to know about its current
standing on the global stage. Argentina is compromised through a “federal union of 23
provincias and a federal capital” (Britannica) with a constitution similar to that of the
United States. Provincias have their own government, legislative, judicial and executive
branches apart from the federal government, though local governments structure vary.
The following scores and data are of Argentina as a whole.

On a scale of -10 to 10, Argentina scores a nine for a democracy rating from the
Polity project report. Polity5 democracy rating report was published in 2018, and at the
time the political climate of Argentina was one of the most stable ones in South
America. Though this does not mean that there was nothing going on. As recent as
2018, despite this stable democracy, Argentina’s political and business elite faced
several corruption scandals (Political climate report, 2018, August). There is a recurring
political problem known as La grieta, or “the rift” that has led to “democratic dysfunction
and policy reversals whenever a new administration takes power” (Roy, 2022). While on
the global stage may see Argentina as a nine out of 10.
The Center for Strategic Peace’s scale for state fragility is on a scale from zero to
25. With the lower number indicating “no fragility,” and the higher number indicating
“extreme fragility;” Argentina scores three in state fragility. Indicating that the state of
Argentina is in good standing despite its internal political polarization. La grieta and
inefficiency in the government has caused many problems within the state. Since the
1980s, there has been an increase in humans rights abuses (Britannica). This
preventing Argentina from scoring lower.
The Global Terrorism Index measures on a scale of zero to 10, with the lowest
number meaning that there is no impact from terrorism and the highest being the there
is a high measurable impact from terrorism. Argentina with a score of 2.66, indicates
that terrorism has a low impact on the state. There have only been 4 incidents in
Argentina that prevents Argentina from having a lower score, these incidents had no
fatalities, no injuries, and no hostages.

Section Two: Landscape

A further look into the state reveals a strong infrastures with the promise of
potential for further growth. It reflects the how those residing in Argentina interact with
digital landscape within the state and with others and how they are affected by it.
Argentina’s digital landscape is among one of the better ones within South America, as
individuals are not as restricted and have access to the digital landscape at their
discretion.

The percentage of individuals that have access to electricity in Argentina is

100%. Making it easy to connect with loved ones and friends. The usage of the internet
is 85.5%. The level of freedom of expression is 0.73. Privacy protections ranked out of
24, with higher numbers indicating high protection and low numbers indicating low or no
protection. Argentina scores 15 out of 24. While Argentina is on the upper half of the
scale, it still scores low.
 Online censorship in Argentina is minimal, with a score of three out of 11, and
there is no significant impact on individuals within the country (Bischoff, P.).The scale of
zero to 11 takes into account restrictions placed by the state. Such as restrictions on
torrents, political media, social media, VPNs, pornography, and messaging/VoIP apps.
Argentina only has 1 political media banned, 1 torrent banned, and 1 torrent restricted,
resulting in its score of three. Argentina has not had any internet shutdowns.
With over 38.2 million users online, Youtube is one of the most used social media
platforms in the state. Other popular platforms include such as Facebook with 28.40
million users (Kemp, 2022) and Instagram with 24.70 million users (Kemp, 2022).
Most individuals, about 56.28 million, accessing the internet and social media platforms
via mobile devices (Kemp, 2022). Though it is important to note that an individual may
have more than one connection whether it be for work or personal usage. Showing that
Argentian’s make use of social media and platforms frequently and take advantage of
the digital landscape that exists to stay connected with each other, for entertainment, or
work.

Section Three: Policy

While Argentina does lack robuts policies when it comes to content moderation,
platform liability, and overall policies that encompass the internet and the digital
landscape.To combat potential dis/misinformation that can be potentially spread by
seasoned users and workers of the internet, Argentina has taken an unusual approach
when it comes to content moderation and platform liability.

Content Moderation Policy

In order to moderate content online, the Argentinan Senate and Chamber of
deputies has proposed the Proyecto de Ley Sobre Regimine Legal Para Influenciadores
o Influencers en Servicios Publicitario Digitales y En Redes de Telecommunicaiones
Por via Electronica, the translation: Legal Regimine for Influencers and Influenced.
This proposed policy takes into account both citizens and non-citizens –
specifically those who have resided within Argentina for at least two years – who must
follow a set rules. They must be influencers in order for this policy to apply to them. In
addition to individuals living in the county, both citizens and non, if an individual has an
established location in Argentina, they will also be held to the same standard as
everyone else. This established location must have ties to a social media influencer in
order for the policy to be applicable.
In addition to this, influencers must for any and all sponsored content must have
the hashtag #PublicacionPaga (#PaidPublication), and the sponsor must be tagged and
clearly mentioned. There must also be a clear indication if any of the sponsored content,
whether it be products or not, can be harmful or inconvenient for children or
adolescents.
Failure to comply with any the requirements will result in one of the following: a
warning, withdrawal from sponsorship- whether that be removal sponsored content or
removal of sponsorship - rectification of misinformation in the post/content, or fines
equivalent to 10 to 1000 percent of minimum living and mobile wages.

Platform Liability Policy

There are currently no policies in place or in moition that explicitly talk about
platform liability. Though the previously mentioned policy has little to no mention of
platforms being liable; if the advertiser (or sponsors) happens to also be the platform,
they must specify the nature of the content that will be published. Proof of objective
statements in regards to service or product before the content is created and shared by
the influencer. Rules that regulate or prohibit the communication of certain content or
advertising of certain productions must be resspected by both parties. Advertiser must
make sure that they have the authorizations and licenses for the use of distinctive signs
or copyrighted works. Failure to comply will result in fines. This is only if the platforms
are the advertisers working with influencers.

International Institutions - none

Implications
Argentina has the potential to grow their policies, both within the digital
landscape and out. As the overall scores in negative impacts, such a terroism index,
online censorship, and state fragitliy were all in the low ends of the scales. The lack in
platform liability policies reflects Argentina’s slow entrance into digital landscape. The
lack of roubust content moderation leaves Argentina vulerable in the digital landscape.
Even the proposed policy, Legal Regimine for Influencers and Influenced, has been
heavily critized by many citizens and outsiders living in Argentina that would be affected
by the policy. Though internal affairs do not reflect the stable international image. La
grieta, political inefficancy, and similar affairs could be the cause for slow entrance into
the digiral space. The political party system in Argentina rapid change, sometimes a
party dissolves but several emerge from it and the cycle repeats again; is a factor in the
slow progress of digital policy. While the potential is there, this can only occur once the
once notable polorization in politics decreases.
 References

Argentina. (n.d.). Retrieved December 4, 2022, from https://www.britannica.com/place/Argentina

Argentina: Freedom on the net 2022 country report. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://freedomhouse.org/country/argentina/freedom-net/2022

Bischoff, P. (2022, November 29). Internet censorship 2022: A global map of internet restrictions.
Retrieved December 2, 2022, from
https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/internet-censorship-map/#Online_censorship_in_So
uth_America

Global terrorism index: Countries most impacted by terrorism. (2022, October 21). Retrieved December
3, 2022, from https://www.visionofhumanity.org/maps/global-terrorism-index/#/

Kemp, S. (2022, February 15). Digital 2022: Argentina - DataReportal – global digital insights. Retrieved
December 2, 2022, from https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2022-argentina?rq=Argentina

Political climate report - Argentina August 14, 2018. (n.d.). Retrieved December 1, 2022, from
http://www.cefeidas.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/PCR-Argentina-August-2018.pdf

Political regime characteristics and Transitions, 1800-2018 dataset ... (n.d.). Retrieved December 2,
2022, from http://www.systemicpeace.org/inscr/p5manualv2018.pdf

Roy, D. (2022, February 7). Argentina: A South American power struggles for stability. Retrieved
December 3, 2022, from
https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/argentina-south-american-power-struggles-stability#chapter-title
-0-8

Table 1: State fragility index and matrix 2018 Monty G. Marshall and ... (n.d.). Retrieved December 2,
2022, from http://www.systemicpeace.org/inscr/SFImatrix2018c.pdf