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We have decided to collaborate with Pedro Vaca Villareal, the current Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression for the Inter-Â鶹´«Ã½ Commission on Human Rights since October 6th, 2020, to write the 2024 hypothetical case. Pedro is a Colombian lawyer with over 12 years of professional experience, specializing in litigating on behalf of victims of severe freedom of expression violations. His background includes holding prominent positions in organizations such as the Foundation for Freedom of the Press (FLIP) and the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX). He has a Master's in Law and a Specialization in Constitutional Law from Universidad Nacional of Colombia. He also served as a professor for the Master's Program in Journalism at Universidad de los Andes. He was a lecturer in 2021 and 2022 in our Program of Advanced Studies on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law at the AUWCL.

This remarkable collaboration between Pedro and the Moot Court Competition is part of a cooperation agreement between AUWCL and the Inter-Â鶹´«Ã½ Commission on Human Rights, aimed at implementing the Inter-Â鶹´«Ã½ system in all its forms and fostering shared projects.

To develop the hypothetical case for the 29th edition, Pedro Vaca is joined by two Co-Authors: Vanessa Lopez Ochoa and Giovanny Padovam Ferreira. Vanessa is a Colombian lawyer with expertise in litigation and advocacy for freedom of expression before Colombian high courts and international forums. Currently, she is a researcher in the Technology, Transparency, and Human Rights field at Dejusticia. She graduated from Universidad de los Andes and holds an LL.M. focused on Human Rights from New York University. In the early stages of her career, she interned for Colombia's pro bono Foundation, an organization committed to enhancing access to justice in the country. Later, she worked at a litigation firm and served as the Strategic Litigation Coordinator at El Veinte, an NGO dedicated to protecting journalists' freedom of expression and social media users facing legal harassment due to their public interest publications.Ìý

Giovanny has been a human rights specialist at the Office of the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression of the IACHR since 2022. He was previously selected as the 2021-2022 Orlando Sierra Fellow (OFSROE/IACHR) and was part of the 2021 Winter/Spring Internship Program of the Organization of Â鶹´«Ã½ States. He is a Brazilian lawyer from the Universidade Federal do Paraná, where he was a member and researcher at the Center for Studies on Human Rights (NESIDH-UFPR) for more than six years and engaged in advocacy activities before national and international institutions. He is pursuing an LLM degree in International Human Rights Law and Humanitarian Law at the AUWCL, where he is also part of the Academy on Human Rights and Humanitarian Law. In 2019, he was a semifinalist in the 24th edition of the IAMOOT, where he was awarded as the second-best orator in Portuguese (State), and his team wrote the best memorial of the State in Portuguese for the competition. Giovanni is a member of the Staff Committee of IAMOOT 2024, one of our hybrid LL.M. students.Ìý

The chosen theme is highly relevant and deserves deeper reflection. It is a central topic in the human rights debate but is still in its early stages of evolution. We now live in a digital context where vast amounts of information can significantly impact the lives of citizens. However, it is essential to safeguard human rights, which can often be limited in this new context, which is not equally accessible to everyone. The topic has also been brought to the attention of the United States Supreme Court, where attorneys general in Louisiana and Missouri raised significant and novel questions about how free speech protections apply online, with implications for how government officials (in this case, the Biden administration) interact with social media companies and communicate with the public on popular platforms.

Another example is the Ford Foundation, which launched the Global Network for Social Justice and Digital Resilience. This first-of-its-kind initiative aims to increase the technical capacities of civil society organizations across the Global South. The goal is to ensure frontline organizations across the Global South can better leverage the benefits of technology while minimizing its harms, which can include online surveillance, censorship, and misinformation.Ìý

We hope this topic will encourage participants to reflect on how the relationship with the digital world can be improved while respecting the protection of human rights. We also hope to foster a healthy debate on the matter, from which exciting ideas and legal solutions may emerge to address the challenges posed by the digital world within the Inter-Â鶹´«Ã½ system.