Digital rights defenders: An interview with Access Now and ECIJA Costa Rica

Latin America has seen several efforts to regulate the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Countries increasingly enact bills, policies and strategies, mainly motivated by European regulation. There is a pressing demand for these regulatory attempts to respect international human rights standards.

To combat this issue TrustLaw, the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s global pro bono service, connected Digital Rights NGO, Access Now, with law firms across the region to develop legal research to inform policymakers of the regulatory trends as well as to identify best practices, making recommendations for a human rights-based approach to AI.

To celebrate this project’s nomination for a Collaboration Award as part of the 2025 TrustLaw Awards, we caught up with Franco Giandana, Policy Analyst at Access Now and Mauricio París, Managing Partner at the project lead law firm, ECIJA Costa Rica, to delve deeper into the impact and vision that drives their work forward.

What challenge did you face before conducting the project?

“The absence of approaches to the regional regulatory scenario in the field of AI made it necessary to generate a tool that would be an index of regulatory initiatives as well as an instrument to offer expert analysis of these public policies from a human rights perspective.”

_{– Franco Giandana}

Why were you interested in working on this project?

“At ECIJA we are interested in being an active part of the discussions that are defining the course of the development and regulation of emerging technologies such as AI. We also feel aligned with the human rights approach promoted by Access Now. This project allowed us to contribute our legal experience to an urgent debate in the region.”

_{– Mauricio París}

What did the pro bono lawyers give you to support your project?

“The law firms provided us with a list of the relevant public policies and initiatives existing in each of their jurisdictions and, in some cases, a legal analysis of their content.”

_{– Franco Giandana}

How do you feel about the impact the work has had?

“We are very proud to have been part of an initiative with real potential to influence conversations about AI in Latin America. The regional report not only provides rigorous technical analysis but also identifies gaps and priority areas for regulatory development. We are confident that this work will be a solid basis for moving towards legal frameworks that are more informed, coherent and appropriate for the realities of the region.”

_{– Mauricio Paris}

What have you achieved thanks to this work?

“The resulting report has had a clear influence on the construction of regulatory initiatives and enhances the understanding of regulatory challenges in AI in the region. For example, it is being used by regulators in Peru to inform a draft regulation under the AI Act and by the academic sector by the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina and the Universidad de la República in Uruguay.”

_{– Franco Giandana}

Why is it important for law firms to pursue pro bono projects like this?

“Pro bono work gives law firms the possibility of contributing to causes that go beyond the professional day-to-day and that have a real impact on the development of public policies. Legal knowledge should not be an exclusive resource, and such initiatives help democratize access to that knowledge. Participating in pro bono projects also reinforces the ethical commitment of our teams and connects us with communities and organizations that share a transformative vision of law.”

_{– Mauricio Paris}

Was there anything that stood out to you about the way legal assistance was provided by the ECIJA that helped make the project successful?

“ECIJA’s intervention was crucial in organizing the information that was provided to us. The representatives of the firm were always available and took a personal interest in the process of initial analysis of the initiatives surveyed.”

_{– Franco Giandana}