By Paulo Silva Pinto and Leo Garfinkel
Joan Barata, a freedom-of-expression scholar at Vanderbilt University in the United States, says the right to voice an opinion must be preserved even when it makes others uncomfortable.
“The right to freedom of expression includes the right to shock, disturb, and offend—three very strong verbs. You have the right to shock, disturb, and offend. What you do not have the right to do is violate other rights,” Barata stated.
The researcher criticized the fact that defamation is classified as a crime in Brazil under the Penal Code (Decree-Law 2,848 of 1940). In other countries, defamation is a civil matter; if someone is found liable, they pay damages, but the amounts must not be excessively punitive, Barata said.
He praised Brazil’s Internet Civil Framework (Law 12,965 of 2014) for establishing that digital platforms can only be forced to remove content by court order.
Born in Barcelona (Spain), Barata is a law professor and a member of the Future of Free Speech think tank at Vanderbilt. He visited Brazil for the first time during the week of 14 April 2025, meeting with advisers to Supreme Court justices to discuss freedom of expression and taking part in public debates.
Joan Barata is a Senior Legal Fellow for The Future of Free Speech. He works on freedom of expression, media regulation, and intermediary liability issues.