A/HRC/26/30 the Complutense University of Madrid); Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (co-hosted by the Ford Foundation); and Washington D.C. (co-hosted by the Open Society Foundations). III. Freedom of expression and communication in electoral processes 10. The right to freedom of opinion and expression is a central pillar of democratic societies; and a guarantor of free and fair electoral processes, and meaningful and representative public and political discourse. It is during times of political change that the right to freedom of expression is most essential, ensuring that a well-informed and empowered public is free to exercise its civil and political rights. Providing the conditions for free and open political communication is an essential element of ensuring fair and democratic electoral processes. 11. In the context of elections and political communications, dedicated attention is to be afforded to the free expression rights of the main actors: the voters, who depend on the right to freedom of expression to receive full and accurate information, and express their political affiliation without fear; candidates and political organizations, who need to exercise their rights through campaigning and communicating their political messages freely without interference or attacks; and the media, which rely on the right to freedom of expression to play their essential democratic role of informing the public, scrutinizing political parties and platforms, and providing checks and balances in the electoral process. 12. Common and continuing challenges to the promotion and protection of freedom of expression that persist in all aspects of society – censorship, violence against journalists, speech that incites hatred, discrimination and political violence – increase in both frequency and severity during electoral processes. Ensuring an open public debate where all the main stakeholders in an electoral process – namely, the voters, the political leaders and groups, and the media – can freely share information and opinions is a permanent challenge for democratic societies. In some cases, inadequate regulation of communications can unduly restrict the freedom of the media or of political actors. In other situations, the political debate is dominated by powerful political and economic groups that take advantage of poorly regulated and enforced legal frameworks. 13. International human rights standards do not provide detailed models for regulating political communications. However, some core principles can be identified: efforts must be deployed to promote the pluralism of the media and ensure a plural political debate, ensure transparency in the promotion and financing of political campaigns, and guarantee accountability and fair enforcement of political regulations to prevent those in power from taking advantage of domestic regulatory regimes to dominate and manipulate public debate. 14. States must take measures to eliminate the structural, legal and practical barriers to the enjoyment of the right to freedom of expression. At a fundamental, structural level, economic power enables political influence to be concentrated in, and exercised by, small segments of society, thereby undermining the democratic ideal. Those who own and finance media organizations and outlets are often able to use their economic power and influence to enhance the visibility of certain political candidates or groups, and impede the communication and expression of others. This is particularly the case where national legislative frameworks do not sufficiently provide for free, direct access by political candidates to publicly or privately owned media outlets for campaigning purposes. Even when such provisions are in place, many media organizations are able to use the unequal provision of air time, partisan editorial commentary, or the facilitation of paid political advertising to promote one political candidate or group over another. The situation is exacerbated when media ownership is obscured by complex corporate structures and there 5