The Brazilian government was considered an international reference for the protection of rights in the digital environment with its adoption of a Civil Rights Framework for the internet in 2014. It took on a central role in promoting international standards for privacy in the digital age. However, at a national level, guaranteeing these rights faces serious limitations that over the last five years have undermined the exercise of other fundamental rights – a situation that worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
This submission to the 41st session of the UN Universal Period Review focuses on Brazil's fulfilment of human rights obligations in the digital context and seeks to strengthen recommendations focused on guaranteeing universal access to the internet in order to enable free expression and association; access to information, knowledge and culture; and the exercise of economic and social rights in a manner that is secure, respectful of privacy and autonomy, and free of any kind of discrimination. It is divided as follows: introduction; economic, social and cultural rights; civil and political rights; and recommendations to the Brazilian state.