Inadvertent norm erosion: How liberal actors have paradoxically weakened the freedom of information norm

This paper investigates how the regulation of online content in democracies has eroded the norm of freedom of information and made it easier for autocrats to justify controlling and suppressing information. We introduce the concept of inadvertent norm erosion: the contestation of a norm in such a way that the norm’s content or scope is eroded beyond the norm reformer’s intentions. We show that through several phases, the European Union, in advocating for occasional exceptions to freedom of information, has shifted the norm on information freedom toward a more illiberal equilibrium. Authoritarian governments frame their actions as defending “digital sovereignty.” In doing so, they explicitly mimic democratic justifications rooted in protecting citizens from harmful or illegal information. Yet liberal policy makers’ self-identification as defenders of the liberal order prevents them from acknowledging the unintended consequences of their actions or taking measures to counteract them. This paper contributes to theories of norms by showing how well-intentioned supporters of democratic norms can inadvertently enable erosion by countenancing exceptions to the norm. It adds to our understanding of the role of authoritarians in developing counter-norms, showing how they are parasitic on the actions of self-proclaimed defenders of the liberal international order.