As an example, the following petition asks the Government of Canada to explore alternatives to Twitter/X, such as decentralised networks. I see the petition was already linked elsewhere on Lemmy but it is not clear how many people actually took action on creating a petition account.
https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-5359 e-5359 (Government services and administration)
“We, the undersigned, citizens and residents of Canada, call upon the Government of Canada to transition official government communications away from Twitter/X to more secure, community-regulated platforms that prioritise public safety, accurate information, and accessibility. We encourage the government to explore publicly accountable alternatives, including decentralised networks, to ensure reliable and responsible communication with Canadians.”
The request here is to do more than upvote a Fediverse thread. The request is to spend the time to create a petition account and upvote the petition.
To create a petition account, a person must be a Canadian citizen or a resident of Canada. Other people can simply provide moral support on the Fediverse.
https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Account/Register
The petition account needs a person’s name, email, phone, and address. The address will include the city and postal code but not the street address.
Fake information is not acceptable and “may be dealt with as a breach of privilege” https://www.ourcommons.ca/procedure/procedure-and-practice-3/ch_22_2-e.html Please do not create fake accounts.
Automatic email verification will be performed to confirm the creation of a petition account.
My best guess would be that a minimum of five supporters helps to weed out some inappropriate petitions. Having more than five can help to meet the minimum in certain circumstances, such as someone falling critically ill and not being able to participate any longer. Having more than ten could create an additional administrative burden.
Supporters are expected to be valid people, actually be in support of the petition, and be responsive to email.
If we could provide more than 10, imagine what might happen. If 2000 people were allowed, those people might just be people from the initiator’s address book who know nothing of the issue. The burden would fall on the House of Commons to poll each person until 5 of them agreed to the petition. With the realistic limits, the initiator is expected to be sufficiently serious and responsible about the petition process.