Cyber Space and Mental Health
Digital technology and Artificial Intelligence ( AI ) pose threats to human right to freedom of thought [1], identified in terms of threats to the right not to reveal one’s thoughts, not to be penalized for one’s thoughts, and not to have one’s thoughts manipulated. To lose freedom of thought is to lose dignity and psychological integrity at the individual level, and social fairness and trust at the level of society. Rights to freedom of thought and dignity [2] are protected by international human rights law, with the clear understanding that what the latter aims to secure is mental autonomy [1, 2]. In the digital society at the current technological scale, an individual’s mental autonomy in terms of agency over their thoughts, actions, and decisions is compromised by factors relating to access to information, domain knowledge and expertise, and the individual understanding of and access to the different types of digital technology and AI currently deployed. As a consequence,...