[4] IFEX was first proposed in 1992 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, by a group of 12 non-governmental organisations who met to discuss how they could collaborate on responding to free expression violations around the world.

IFEX's mandate is to raise awareness by sharing information online and mobilising action on issues such as press freedom, Internet censorship, freedom of information legislation, criminal defamation and insult laws, media concentration and attacks on the free expression rights of all people, including journalists, writers, artists, musicians, filmmakers, academics, scientists, human rights defenders and Internet users.

IFEX-TMG was dissolved in January 2013 in response to improved conditions for local NGOs, media independence and free expression rights.

In 2015, Francisco Medina, brother of two journalists murdered in Paraguay in 1997, went before the United Nations (UN) to speak out against the "deterioration of freedom of expression in his country".

To mark the 2020 International Day to End Impunity on 2 November 2020, IFEX launched its Faces of Free Expression illustration series, profiling over 90[7] free-expression advocates working in countries across the globe.