Some of our researches suggested that Brazilian Courts favor personality rights over freedom of expression, from this, InternetLab decided to develop a platform called “Dissenso.org” intended for the promotion of free speech on the Internet. The platform aims to promote the dialogue between scholars, legal practitioners and society at large through the diffusion of information. Considering the important role of the Internet in the way people communicate and access information nowadays, we understand that it is essential to promote a multi-stakeholder debate when it comes to freedom of expression, with the purpose of ensuring that the exercise of this right — so intimately related to democracy — is not improperly limited.

Online since March 2017, the Dissenso.org platform promotes freedom of expression as an essential value to democracy, raising awareness on the value of dissent and diversity. In addition, it reinforces the role of this important constitutional guarantee in the resistance to oppression and in the empowerment of dissonant voices, creating a collective conscience regarding the woes caused by the undue restriction to the exercise of freedom of expression in the digital environment.

The platform has a team of columnists from different areas that approach the topic of freedom of expression from varied perspectives. Besides reporting events that generated heated discussions on social media and promoting counter-discursive strategies, Dissenso.org offers a comprehensive database of judicial decisions and a repository of academic papers that can be used as a research source, promoting a qualified debate about freedom of expression in Brazil [all links in Portuguese].