NOTES ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND SOCIAL MEDIA: CHALLENGES TO DEMOCRATIC LEGITIMACY - DOI: 10.12818/P.0304-2340.2025v86p367

Abstract

Based on a critical interpretative approach
to Constitutional Theory and Constitutional
Law, the article aims to address the emerging
tension between the exercise of freedom of
expression and the most recent guidelines
of some of the largest online platforms (X
and Meta), set against the backdrop of the
requirement for democratic legitimacy in the
norms proposed by both state and corporate
entities. Restrictions and limits in this field
must, to avoid illegitimate abuses, serve as
a condition for the very possibility of public
discourse. The hypothesis put forward is
that, in a world marked by digital ubiquity,
democratic principles need to be displaced and
reinterpreted, but not abandoned as if they
were anachronistic. Thus, the article seeks
to demonstrate that any normative solution
raised in response to the challenges posed by
online platforms to established conceptions
of freedom of expression must be confronted
with the requirement for transparency,
discursiveness, and comprehensibility in
democratic deliberative processes.

KEYWORDS: Freedom of Expression. Social
Media. Democratic Legitimacy.