What is the formal written request, typically signed by many people, appealing to authority called?

A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. In the colloquial sense, a petition is a document addressed to some official and signed by numerous individuals. A petition may be oral rather than written, or may be transmitted via the Internet.

The first documented petitions were made by slaves building pyramids in Ancient Egypt who petitioned for better working conditions.

Online petitions are a new form of a petition becoming commonplace in the 21st century. Change.org was founded in 2007 and became the world's most popular online petition platform with around 50 million registered users.