In the present report, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the
right to freedom of opinion and expression examines how the intersection of public and
private powers and the convergence of geopolitical and corporate interests driving the digital
revolution is advancing a new global agenda on freedom of opinion and expression and
exploiting the vulnerabilities of this right. She analyses the wider implications of the
paradigm shift in the governance of freedom of opinion and expression covered in her
previous report.
She examines how States, aided, abetted and aggravated by new technologies, are
reducing the space for freedom of opinion and expression, online and offline, and its negative
impact on gender inequality, children’s safety and media decline. Furthermore, the Special
Rapporteur looks at the governance, oligarchic structure and culture of large digital platforms
and artificial intelligence companies, as well as the complex relations between the corporate
actors and States, from regulation and adjudication to collusion and co-optation. She
concludes by drawing attention to the resistance, reforms and initiatives seeking to reclaim
and revitalize freedom of opinion and expression as a fundamental pillar of democracy and
sustainable development.