Discussion of cross-border data flows and digital governance often centers on the transatlantic relationship between the U.S. and the EU. While the PAB team follows EU-U.S. developments closely, we also examine how other countries address issues at the intersection of privacy, security, and global data flows. In this article, we turn our focus to BRICS+.
BRICS is an international partnership of major emerging economies, evolving from the original BRICS group. This bloc of countries from the Global South now makes up over 45% of the world’s population. The concept was first introduced in 2001 by economist Jim O’Neill to recognize the growing economic power and potential of four countries: Brazil, Russia, India, and China. Motivated by a shared desire to challenge existing global governance and financial systems, which they viewed as unrepresentative, the original four nations held their first official meeting in 2009. The group officially became “BRICS” with the addition of South Africa in 2010.
The move to “BRICS+” signifies the group’s continued expansion. It now consists of eleven countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia. When the BRICS+ countries met in Brazil in July 2025, they issued the Rio de Janeiro Declaration. It referenced the addition of nine BRICS partner countries, which were announced in January 2025, to foster broader collaboration.
Digital Governance Goals
Before the recent Rio de Janeiro Summit, the technology policies of the BRICS nations were driven by a collective effort to assert sovereignty and establish a more equitable global digital order. A central goal was to reduce dependence on Western technology by fostering a self-reliant digital ecosystem and discussing a formal Intergovernmental Agreement on Cybersecurity. Additionally, the group worked toward a BRICS Data Economy Governance Understanding to reconcile the need for cross-border data flows with the protection of national data and individual privacy. There was also a growing focus on AI governance, with a shared ambition to prevent “data colonialism” and ensure that AI frameworks addressed the unique needs of developing countries.
The Rio Summit and its Declaration
The XVII BRICS Summit, held from July 6-7, 2025, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil focused on the theme of “Strengthening Global South Cooperation for a More Inclusive and Sustainable Governance.” The summit served as a platform for the expanded BRICS group to enhance its strategic partnership across three main pillars: political and security, economic and financial, and cultural and people-to-people cooperation. A central focus was on promoting a multipolar world where developing countries, particularly those from the Global South, have a stronger voice in global decision-making. “BRICS states, including Russia, have touted the group’s expansion as a defining moment, heralding the dawn of a post-Western world order in which the ‘global majority’ is finally empowered,” said a report by The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The leaders adopted the BRICS Leaders’ Statement on the Global Governance of Artificial Intelligence, which aims to foster responsible AI development for sustainable growth and ensure that governance frameworks include the needs of the Global South. This initiative seeks to prevent “digital colonization” by placing the UN at the core of global AI frameworks.
The Declaration also included the BRICS Data Economy Governance Understanding, which provides a roadmap for leveraging the data economy while protecting national data sovereignty and individual privacy. Furthermore, the bloc reaffirmed its commitment to cybersecurity, acknowledging the ongoing work of the BRICS Working Group on Security in the Use of ICTs toward a formal intergovernmental agreement.
The Rio de Janeiro Declaration outlined several additional key points:
- Global Governance Reform: The Declaration supported a comprehensive reform of the United Nations, including the Security Council, to increase the representation of the Global South.
- Economic and Financial Reform: It called for an urgent reform of the IMF and World Bank, and reaffirmed support for a rules-based, multilateral trading system with the WTO at its core.
- Condemnation of Unilateral Actions: The Declaration condemned unilateral coercive measures, such as economic sanctions, that are contrary to international law.
- Multilateralism and Peace: It reaffirmed a commitment to international law and a peaceful, rules-based international order.
- Health and Food Security: The leaders emphasized strengthening global health governance and committed to increasing cooperation in agriculture to combat hunger and poverty.
The Internal Challenge and External Skepticism
While BRICS expansion is touted as a watershed moment for the “global majority,” the bloc faces significant internal and external scrutiny regarding its long-term viability as a cohesive unit.Critics argue that the coalition is fundamentally incoherent, calling it an “awkward mixture of neo-imperial and post-colonial powers.” The bloc lacks a unifying economic system, being split between major petroleum exporters (Russia, Iran, UAE) and states actively working to reduce reliance on fossil fuels (Brazil, India, China). This divergence makes coordinating policy difficult and complicates any claim to act as a solidified economic cartel.
In addition, critics state that “perennial geopolitical tensions,” most notably between China and India, continually undermine the group’s ability to act as a consolidated bloc. Furthermore, in the absence of a clear, shared ideological threat (like that of the Cold War), the current multipolar environment rewards flexible hedging strategies. Many members and aspirant countries use BRICS as a diplomatic option while simultaneously maintaining and in some cases strengthening ties with Western-aligned groups (such as India’s role in the U.S.-aligned “Quad” alliance).
Although the desire to reduce U.S. dollar dependence is a powerful unifying factor—accelerated by Western sanctions on Russia—skeptics doubt the feasibility of replacing the dollar anytime soon. A credible alternative, whether a BRICS currency or a basket of currencies, would require immense political compromises, including macroeconomic convergence and a unified banking system, which seem remote given the deep internal divisions.
Furthermore, the lack of standardized data protection and privacy frameworks across members creates significant friction that impedes the vision of seamless cross-border data flows. This divergence is acute: nations like China and Russia have strict controls on cross-border data transfers while imposing few meaningful restrictions on government access to data (with few exceptions). In sharp contrast, members like Brazil (LGPD) and South Africa (Protection of Personal Information Act, POPIA) have adopted comprehensive, rights-based frameworks closely modeled on the European Union’s GDPR. These differing legal philosophies—state control and localization versus data subject rights and limited free flow—complicate compliance for multinational enterprises and undermine the bloc’s goal of creating a unified digital economy.
New Digital Governance Goals and the Future
Looking forward, the bloc’s stated long-term strategy, guided by initiatives like the BRICS Digital Economy Partnership Framework, is to narrow the digital divide by investing in infrastructure and promoting digital literacy. India’s upcoming 2026 BRICS presidency, prioritizing initiatives such as narrowing the digital divide and ensuring the safe development of AI, will serve as a critical measure of the bloc’s capacity to translate shared ambition into implementable, common policies and to unify its disparate national paths into a single, functional trajectory.
