The right to freedom of thought: an interdisciplinary analysis of the UN special rapporteur’s report on freedom of thought

Article


O'Callaghan, P., Cronin, O., Kelly, B., Shiner, B., Walmsley, J. and McCarthy-Jones, S. 2024. The right to freedom of thought: an interdisciplinary analysis of the UN special rapporteur’s report on freedom of thought. The International Journal of Human Rights. 28 (1), pp. 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2023.2227100
TypeArticle
TitleThe right to freedom of thought: an interdisciplinary analysis of the UN special rapporteur’s report on freedom of thought
AuthorsO'Callaghan, P., Cronin, O., Kelly, B., Shiner, B., Walmsley, J. and McCarthy-Jones, S.
Abstract

In 2021, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief presented his ‘Report on Freedom of Thought’ to the United Nations General Assembly. This was the first substantive consideration of the right to freedom of thought at the level of the United Nations since the right was recognised in 1948. This paper provides interdisciplinary reflections on this report to support the ongoing discussion on the appropriate content and scope of this fundamental human right. We begin by addressing potential reasons for the historical neglect of this right, namely that the right has been viewed as more symbolic than practical and that relevant interests are already protected by other rights. Next, given there is no consensus on what the right to freedom of thought protects, or how it protects, we consider the potential attributes of the right. We then turn to a consideration of potential violations of the right to freedom of thought, turning to its application to the field of mental health. Finally, we consider the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations, discussing how some of these may be realised through human rights-centered regulation in the form of the European Union’s new Digital Services Act. In this context, we also briefly consider relevant aspects of the EU Commission’s proposal for an AI Act. We conclude by outlining what we see to be the pressing challenges facing the development of this right.

KeywordsFreedom; thinking; thought; human rights; moral panic; philosophy
Sustainable Development Goals16 Peace, justice and strong institutions
PublisherTaylor & Francis (Routledge)
JournalThe International Journal of Human Rights
ISSN1364-2987
Electronic1744-053X
Publication dates
Online29 Jun 2023
Print02 Jan 2024
Publication process dates
Submitted08 Feb 2023
Accepted09 Jun 2023
Deposited14 Jun 2023
Output statusPublished
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Open
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Restricted
Copyright Statement

© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2023.2227100
LanguageEnglish
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