Digital Globalization and Legal Culture: Online Rights Awareness and Civic Participation
Keywords:
Digital globalization, legal culture, online rights awareness, civic participation, digital citizenship, legal consciousness, TehranAbstract
This study aimed to explore how digital globalization shapes online rights awareness and civic participation among adult social media users in Tehran. This qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 24 participants living in Tehran, Iran. Participants were selected through purposive sampling to include diverse experiences of digital media use, online legal information-seeking, and civic engagement. Data collection continued until theoretical saturation was reached at the twenty-second interview, and two additional interviews were conducted to confirm the stability of the emerging categories. Interviews were audio-recorded with consent, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed through thematic analysis with the support of NVivo software. Coding proceeded through open coding, category development, constant comparison, and interpretive refinement. Credibility was strengthened through member checking, peer review, prolonged engagement with the data, and maintaining an audit trail. Four main categories emerged from the analysis: digital legal consciousness, platform-mediated rights learning, cautious civic participation, and structural barriers to digital citizenship. Participants described digital spaces as important sources of legal knowledge, particularly regarding privacy, consumer rights, women’s rights, labor rights, and administrative procedures. However, online rights awareness was often fragmented, emotionally driven, and dependent on trust in informal networks. Civic participation included signing petitions, sharing legal information, joining online campaigns, commenting on public issues, and contacting institutions digitally. At the same time, fear of surveillance, misinformation, low institutional trust, and unequal digital literacy restricted more active participation. Digital globalization has transformed legal culture by expanding access to rights-related information and creating new forms of civic participation. Nevertheless, online legal awareness does not automatically lead to empowered citizenship. Effective digital citizenship requires trustworthy legal information, civic education, privacy protection, and institutional responsiveness.
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