<s>
An	O
online	B-Application
petition	I-Application
(	O
or	O
Internet	B-Application
petition	I-Application
,	O
or	O
e-petition	B-Application
)	O
is	O
a	O
form	O
of	O
petition	O
which	O
is	O
signed	O
online	O
,	O
usually	O
through	O
a	O
form	O
on	O
a	O
website	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Visitors	O
to	O
the	O
online	B-Application
petition	I-Application
sign	O
the	O
petition	O
by	O
adding	O
their	O
details	O
such	O
as	O
name	O
and	O
email	O
address	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
online	B-Application
petition	I-Application
may	O
also	O
deliver	O
an	O
email	O
to	O
the	O
target	O
of	O
the	O
petition	O
each	O
time	O
the	O
petition	O
is	O
signed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Online	B-Application
petitions	I-Application
may	O
be	O
abused	O
if	O
signers	O
do	O
n't	O
use	O
real	O
names	O
,	O
thus	O
undermining	O
its	O
legitimacy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
petition	O
sites	O
now	O
have	O
safeguards	O
to	O
match	O
real	O
world	O
processes	O
;	O
such	O
as	O
local	O
governments	O
requiring	O
protest	O
groups	O
to	O
present	O
petition	O
signatures	O
,	O
plus	O
their	O
printed	O
name	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
way	O
to	O
verify	O
the	O
signature	O
(	O
either	O
with	O
a	O
phone	O
number	O
or	O
identification	O
number	O
via	O
a	O
driver	O
's	O
license	O
or	O
a	O
passport	B-Protocol
)	O
to	O
ensure	O
that	O
the	O
signature	O
is	O
legitimate	O
and	O
not	O
falsified	O
by	O
the	O
protestors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
recent	O
article	O
on	O
the	O
rise	O
of	O
online	B-Application
petitions	I-Application
in	O
Singapore	O
,	O
a	O
spokesperson	O
for	O
iPetitions.com,	O
a	O
leading	O
petition	O
site	O
,	O
stated	O
that	O
IP	O
checks	O
and	O
captchas	O
can	O
be	O
deployed	O
to	O
fight	O
fake	O
petitions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
now	O
several	O
major	O
web	O
initiatives	O
featuring	O
online	B-Application
petitions	I-Application
,	O
for	O
example	O
Change.org,	O
iPetitions.com,	O
Avvaz.org,	O
and	O
38	B-Application
Degrees	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Recently	O
,	O
several	O
petitions	O
on	O
Change.org	B-Application
have	O
been	O
attributed	O
to	O
the	O
reversal	O
of	O
a	O
United	O
Airlines	O
Dog	O
Policy	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
legitimate	O
non-governmental	O
organizations	O
(	O
NGOs	O
)	O
shun	O
online	B-Application
petitions	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Slacktivism	O
is	O
often	O
seen	O
with	O
these	O
online	B-Application
petitions	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
February	O
2007	O
an	O
online	B-Application
petition	I-Application
against	O
road	O
pricing	O
and	O
car	O
tracking	O
on	O
the	O
UK	O
Prime	O
Minister	O
's	O
own	O
website	O
attracted	O
over	O
1.8	O
million	O
e-signatures	O
from	O
a	O
population	O
of	O
60	O
million	O
people	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Other	O
times	O
the	O
usage	O
will	O
contain	O
a	O
form	O
to	O
be	O
printed	O
and	O
filled	O
out	O
,	O
or	O
a	O
link	O
to	O
an	O
offsite	O
online	B-Application
petition	I-Application
which	O
the	O
recipient	O
can	O
sign	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
known	O
successful	O
online	B-Application
petition	I-Application
was	O
written	O
during	O
the	O
summer	O
of	O
1998	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
international	O
record	O
for	O
most	O
successful	O
online	B-Application
petition	I-Application
is	O
currently	O
held	O
by	O
the	O
Change.org	B-Application
petition	O
relating	O
to	O
the	O
murder	O
of	O
George	O
Floyd	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
rise	O
of	O
the	O
World	O
Wide	O
Web	O
as	O
a	O
platform	O
for	O
commerce	O
,	O
activism	O
and	O
discussion	O
,	O
an	O
opportunity	O
to	O
garner	O
attention	O
for	O
various	O
social	O
causes	O
was	O
perceived	O
by	O
various	O
players	O
,	O
resulting	O
in	O
a	O
more	O
formalized	O
structure	O
for	O
online	B-Application
petitions	I-Application
;	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
web-based	O
petition	O
hosts	O
,	O
PetitionOnline	B-Application
,	O
was	O
founded	O
in	O
1999	O
,	O
with	O
others	O
such	O
as	O
GoPetition	O
(	O
founded	O
in	O
2000	O
)	O
,	O
thePetitionSite.com,	O
iPetitions	O
,	O
and	O
others	O
being	O
established	O
in	O
the	O
years	O
since	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
rise	O
of	O
online	O
social	O
networking	O
in	O
the	O
later	O
2000s	O
,	O
however	O
,	O
resulted	O
in	O
both	O
an	O
increase	O
of	O
Internet	B-Application
petition	I-Application
integration	O
into	O
social	O
networks	O
and	O
an	O
increase	O
of	O
visibility	O
for	O
such	O
petitions	O
;	O
Facebook	B-Application
,	O
Change.org,	O
Care2	B-Protocol
,	O
SumOfUs	O
,	O
GoPetition	O
and	O
other	O
sites	O
serve	O
as	O
examples	O
of	O
the	O
integration	O
of	O
Internet	B-Application
petitions	I-Application
as	O
a	O
form	O
of	O
social	O
media	O
and	O
user-generated	O
content	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
networks	O
may	O
have	O
proven	O
to	O
be	O
more	O
fertile	O
ground	O
for	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
,	O
signing	O
of	O
and	O
response	O
to	O
online	B-Application
petitions	I-Application
,	O
as	O
such	O
networks	O
generally	O
lack	O
the	O
heightened	O
level	O
of	O
anonymity	O
associated	O
with	O
the	O
earlier	O
dedicated	O
petition	O
hosts	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Thus	O
,	O
platform	O
ManaBalss.lv	B-Application
in	O
Latvia	O
has	O
the	O
authority	O
to	O
hand	O
over	O
to	O
a	O
national	O
parliament	O
any	O
legally	O
correct	O
initiative	O
which	O
has	O
been	O
signed	O
by	O
more	O
than	O
10,000	O
authenticated	O
supporters	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
US	O
government	O
created	O
We	B-Application
The	I-Application
People	I-Application
in	O
2011	O
as	O
a	O
platform	O
for	O
creating	O
and	O
signing	O
petitions	O
on	O
the	O
White	O
House	O
web	O
server	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
is	O
the	O
case	O
with	O
public	O
perceptions	O
of	O
slacktivism	O
,	O
Internet	B-Application
petitions	I-Application
are	O
both	O
a	O
popular	O
resort	O
of	O
web-based	O
activism	O
and	O
a	O
target	O
of	O
criticism	O
from	O
those	O
who	O
feel	O
that	O
such	O
petitions	O
are	O
often	O
disregarded	O
by	O
their	O
targets	O
because	O
of	O
the	O
anonymity	O
of	O
petition	O
signers	O
;	O
Snopes.com,	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
sides	O
against	O
the	O
usage	O
of	O
Internet	B-Application
petitions	I-Application
as	O
a	O
method	O
of	O
activism	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
the	O
other	O
hand	O
,	O
the	O
creators	O
of	O
petition	O
hosts	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
Randy	B-Protocol
Paynter	I-Protocol
of	O
Care2	B-Protocol
and	O
thePetitionSite.com,	O
have	O
defended	O
web-based	O
petitions	O
as	O
being	O
more	O
feasible	O
,	O
credible	O
and	O
effective	O
than	O
e-mail	O
petitions	O
,	O
claiming	O
they	O
are	O
not	O
fairly	O
judged	O
as	O
a	O
method	O
of	O
activism	O
by	O
their	O
critics	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
then	O
,	O
Snopes.com	O
has	O
removed	O
the	O
text	O
about	O
the	O
inefficacy	O
of	O
Internet	B-Application
petitions	I-Application
.	O
</s>
