In collaboration with the Center for Studies on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information (CELE), Access Now has participated in discussions within the Group of Twenty (G20) through the T20, a G20 working group that invites national and international think tanks to contribute to global policy debates. We presented a paper offering insights and recommendations to inform discussions on digital public policies from a Latin American perspective.
Our document, A Latin American Perspective on Global Governance for Digital Platform Accountability, highlights the growing global interest in digital governance structures. From a Latin American standpoint, the paper challenges the often hasty push for global regulations in the digital sphere, urging greater attention to regional contexts and concerns.
But what exactly is the G20, and why is participating important?
The G20 is a forum that “brings together the world’s largest economies” annually to discuss economic, social, and increasingly, digital policies.
Participating countries include Germany, Saudi Arabia, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the United States, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Russia, South Africa, and Turkey, along with representatives from the African Union and the European Union. The G20 presidency rotates annually among member countries; in 2024, it was Brazil’s turn.
Brazil’s leadership of the G20 presents a significant opportunity to influence and collaborate at local, regional, and international levels, given its important role in the region, its alignment with the Global South, and its advocacy for greater social participation. It is expected that Brazil will effectively strengthen civic engagement beyond rhetoric, demonstrating that the time, resources, and expectations invested by civil society are not in vain.
This year, discussions focused on the Brazilian government’s priority topics, particularly issues related to digital policies like information integrity and platform regulation. Being part of this space allows Access Now to play an active role as civil society in key discussions to protect freedom of expression and human rights in the digital environment, and to provide concrete recommendations to participating countries.
For this reason, we decided to present this perspective at the G20, as we believe it is essential to resist international efforts to impose generic measures without the necessary regional contextualization. In Latin America, we have a particularly developed and robust rights system regarding freedom of expression and human rights in the digital space, which reflects the region’s unique challenges and context. Implementing regulations without considering these specifics could jeopardize progress and limit the effectiveness of policies in local settings.
Our participation aims to ensure that international proposals take these differences into account, promoting inclusive, effective, and human rights-respecting discussions across all regional contexts.
Access Now and CELE’s recommendations for G20 countries:
- Develop policies and agreements that reflect broad consensus and recognize regional differences. The Inter-American Human Rights System (IAHRS) advancements regarding online freedom of expression and internet governance mechanisms could serve as a reference point for discussing and shaping public policies among key actors within the G20.
- Promote multi-stakeholder dialogues, both nationally and regionally, to explore whether global governance mechanisms for platforms are desirable, and if so, to define the minimum principles they should adhere to.
- Avoid focusing on global regulations and instead support regions with strong expertise in the field, like the IAHRS. While disinformation is a growing concern, particularly in contexts affecting democratic electoral processes, the response should not be the creation of prohibited content categories. “Errors should be answered with corrections, and the main way of fighting false information is with true information.” States should thoroughly discuss and analyze, with a multi-stakeholder approach, which mechanisms—other than bans—can help maintain the integrity of information ecosystems while safeguarding freedom of expression and considering the specificities of each context.
In addition to the T20, Access Now also participated in the civil society working groups, known as the C20, specifically in the Digitalization and Technology group. We hope that the recommendations made in these spaces are taken into account to promote digital public policies that are consistent with the obligations of Latin American states, which have committed to upholding the highest standards of human rights protection within the Inter-American system.