Chinese Netizen’s protests and Freedom of Mind as a Human Right with Researcher Matt Bywater
This week, we focus on two crucial overlapping and timely subjects: Freedom of Mind as an essential new human right and using my BITE Model of Authoritarian Control by Chinese netizens during the November 2022 protests in China against the zero covid lockdown policy.
Matt Bywater first learned the phrase and idea of Freedom of Mind during his research into authoritarian cults, which began with my books Combating Cult Mind Control and Freedom of Mind. He decided to work towards identifying a pathway for freedom of mind to enter into the international human rights architecture. Shortly thereafter, he came across the first Declaration of Freedom of Mind in history, issued by the World Mental Health Coalition, founded by forensic psychiatrist Bandy X. Lee. Dr. Lee edited the best-selling book, The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump, with 37 experts weighing in on Trump. When I put together a panel at the 37th Annual Conference of the International Academy of Law and Mental Health in Lyon, France, presented his research on Freedom of Mind and why he believes the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights is insufficient to protect the mind. He has also presented at the 2023 International Cultic Studies Association conference. He is currently looking for a human rights scholar and academic institution to supervise his research into freedom of mind as part of a doctoral program.