Seemingly due to their technological availability, online petitions have become a very popular way for citizens to express their concerns and public demands. Yet the legitimacy and effectiveness of such citizens' initiatives depend primarily on the social and political context within which their use is embedded. Here a case study of an online Petition Against the Construction of Gas Terminals in the Bay of Trieste is presented in order to analyse the complexity of processes which led to the effective mobilisation of citizens by means of the Internet, media framing of the issue and finally parliamentary discussion of the issue. Specifically, I am concerned with questions of the legitimacy and effectiveness of this specific online citizens' initiative. Research methods employed were in-depth interviews with organisers of the petition, a survey among signatories of the petition, a content analysis of media reports and an analysis of official documents referring to the planned construction of gas terminals in the Bay of Trieste.
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