Abstract

GOMEZ-VILLEGAS, Mauricio; SUAREZ-RICO, Yuli Marcela; VALENZUELA-JIMENEZ, Luis Fernando  and  GARCIA-BENAU, María Antonia. TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY THROUGH SOCIAL NETWORKS. A CASE OF MINING CONFLICTS IN LATIN AMERICA. Innovar [online]. 2021, vol.31, n.82, pp.65-86.  Epub Nov 11, 2021. ISSN 0121-5051.  https://doi.org/10.15446/innovar.v31n82.98416.

Several studies show the growing use of the Internet and social media by large companies in order to disclose social and environmental information, thus increasing accountability and transparency. However, the pros and cons of these processes remain unclear. Therefore, this work poses the need for a critical reinterpretation of transparency and social and environmental accountability through social media. To do this, we will adopt some arguments provided by the dialogic perspective of accountability, as well as certain concepts from the Korean philosopher Byung-Chul Han. Particularly, we will study the case of Vale mining company, characterizing the way in which corporations use social media claiming more transparency and social and environmental accountability in the face of serious socio-environmental catastrophes. Despite this, the case studied shows that such type of disclosure does not make visible the intrinsic conflicts within the productive activities of the company, nor does it incorporate the visions, expectations and claims of its stakeholders.

Keywords : accountability; social media; socio environmental conficts; sustainability; transparency.

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