Desafios atuais às liberdades de expressão e informação no ambiente digital : perspectivas a partir do direito internacional dos direitos humanos

Abstract

Freedom, which can be understood as having free will and being spontaneous, is one of the pillars necessary to consolidate the International Human Rights Law. Everyone is free to have their own opinion and express themselves, as well as seek, receive, and spread information and ideas through any means of expression. Over the years, freedom of expression and information have changed and can now be regarded as indispensable for democracy to function properly and have been established by several rules under the International Human Rights Law. Currently, the ever-growing use of the internet and social media poses some major challenges to freedom of expression and information. This study aims to determine and look into these challenges, seeking to identify how to overcome them within the framework of the International Human Rights Law. To that end, firstly we¿ll cover the boundaries of freedom of expression and information, how they have evolved, and how the Universal Declaration of Human Rights laid the foundation for their emergence. Then, we¿ll look into some of the challenges facing digital environments, namely: fake news or misinformation, hate speech, right to privacy, right to be forgotten, treatment of data, and violations to freedom of expression and information against the backdrop of today¿s SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Finally, we¿ll present possible ways to tackle these challenges, fighting violations, curbing violence incitement, and showing solutions that have already been put in place in order to allow freedom of expression and information to be fully exercised in digital environments, preventing violations to these rights or any other human rights. This is a descriptive piece of research that looks into International Human Rights Law documents, internal laws, and case studies seeking to promote the protection of human rights.