Joint Resolution — Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution
The Freedom of Thought Amendment
Proposed Twenty-Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States
❖
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of each House concurring therein), that the following article is proposed as an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which shall be valid to all intents and purposes as part of the Constitution when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission.
Whereas the liberty of a free people begins in the conscience of the individual, and no government, however constituted, was ever its author;
Whereas the First Amendment secured the freedom to speak, to publish, to worship, and to assemble, yet presumed a mind already at liberty to form its own convictions;
Whereas there have arisen instruments of surveillance, persuasion, and synthetic deception capable of reaching into that inner forum, mapping the fears and desires of the people, and shaping their judgment without their knowledge or consent, at a scale the Framers could not have foreseen;
Whereas a citizen whose attention is harvested, whose emotions are inventoried, and whose choices are quietly engineered is not, in the fullest sense, a free citizen; and
Whereas the pursuit of happiness presupposes the sovereignty of each person over the inward dominion of their own mind:
Now, therefore, this article is proposed to secure that dominion.
Article —
SectionI.
The freedom of thought shall be inviolable. Every person possesses the inalienable right to form, hold, examine, and change their own beliefs, opinions, and inward mental life, free from coercion and from the covert interference of any government, corporation, or other actor.
SectionII.
Neither the United States, nor any State, nor any person or entity shall subject the people to the systematic and non-consensual manipulation of their thoughts, emotions, or decisions. This prohibition extends to the exploitation of personal data for the purpose of behavioral manipulation; to covert algorithmic targeting founded upon a person’s inferred mental or emotional state; to subliminal, deceptive, or knowingly addictive design; and to coordinated campaigns of deception engineered to manufacture consent or to distort the common understanding of the people.
SectionIII.
Nothing in this article shall be construed to abridge the freedom of speech or of the press, to authorize any prior restraint upon ideas or opinions, or to empower any government to act as an arbiter of truth. The right herein secured restrains the conduct that deceives and exploits; it does not restrain the open contest of argument, persuasion, and belief, which remains the birthright of a free people.
SectionIV.
The Congress and the several States shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation, including measures requiring transparency in the collection and use of personal data; prohibiting deceptive and manipulative design; requiring the plain disclosure of synthetic media and of the sponsorship of mass persuasion; and affording remedy to persons injured by violations hereof. Such legislation shall be narrowly drawn to secure this right while preserving robust public debate, genuine expression, and the integrity of a free press.
SectionV.
This article shall take effect two years after the date of its ratification.
Drafted as a citizen’s petition
For introduction & debate in the Congress
Free to copy, circulate & amend
For introduction & debate in the Congress
Free to copy, circulate & amend
BS Medicineman
knight4d.com