Local content in Brazil: conceptual framework and methodological implications

This article presents work in progress from PhD research investigating the use of the internet in the favelas (shantytowns) of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with a particular focus on the internet content produced and shared by those who live there. The research proposes to apply the concept of local content beyond the scope of digital inclusion policy and projects, to content generated in everyday practices of internet use. The article presents an overview of internet access in Brazil and discussion of the conceptual and methodological issues raised by the interest in local content, understood as "the expression of the locally owned and adapted knowledge of a community - where the community is defined by its location, culture, language, or area of interest" according to a definition proposed by Ballantyne (2002).