Prior to 2021, the CLD supported the country's democratic transition, including by fostering the development of a robust and independent media sector and drafting new laws governing broadcasting, digital speech and the press.

When the military Junta conducted a coup in January 2021, the CLD pivoted, analyzing executive orders crushing media independence, access to information, freedom of expression and human rights more broadly.

The CLD regularly makes submissions to the United Nations, including to the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, on contemporary global issues.

[17] CLD's Executive Director, Toby Mendel, has also appeared as an expert witness on international standards relating to defamation before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the case of Palacio Urrutia and Others v.

[22][23] CLD was highly critical of the moves, which led then-Attorney General Felix Collins to refer to them as a "cheap, amateurish" "two-bit outfit" on the floor of the House of Assembly.

In response, CLD noted that they had worked in many difficult environments, including Kazakhstan, Myanmar and Somalia, but that this was the first time their integrity and professionalism had been attacked by a political leader.

[24] Two years later, the government of Newfoundland and Labrador backed down from the Bill 29 changes and initiated a review process, in which CLD was a prominent participant, and which resulted in strong improvements to the provincial right to information legislation.