“The Fifth Estate” is a movie (2013) devoted to “WikiLeaks” and Assange, translated in Bulgarian “Петата власт” (“The Fifth Power”): a metaphor for the social influence of Internet commensurable and overcoming that of the traditional three powers and classical media. This melts the terms “estate” (“Lords spiritual”, “Lords temporal”, and “Commons”) and “power” (“legislative”, “executive”, and “judiciary”). The media and networks are called literally “estate”, but interpreted as “power”.
Furthermore, the term of the “fifth power” addresses the research of its specification to the rest “powers”.
The classical three powers, electable in democracy, coordinate society within the state: “legislative power” creates the written framework, which is detailed in two ways: as instructions and execution by the “executive” one, and as the estimation of relevance or irrelevance of actions to the legislative framework by the “judiciary” one.
Media are specifiable as the “broker” of public opinion and thus, of direct democracy. While the mandates of the three powers’ representatives are a few years, the more and more dynamical society needs information and feedback to the powers daily and more often.
Internet sites and networks unlike media are featured by:
- Right of initiative and organization (public protests, etc.)
- Information and feedback in “real time“
- Transcending national borders to globality
- Execution of rights by discriminate people: young; in dictatorship, in traditional or legal restrictions; female; citizens of any state to events in any stat
- The booming power.