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State-Sponsored Manipulation and Citizen Protection

European Union
Regulation
Security
Internet

Abstract

: Psychological operations or “Psy-ops” refer to a category of programmes used by state security services that focus on modifying and manipulating citizens. Academic scholarship suggests that manipulation, as a negative interference with our mental spheres, is neglected and consequently underdeveloped in legal thinking. This article aims to map insights from surveillance studies scholarship onto the European framework for the protection of fundamental rights, in particular the lens of Article 3 (the right to integrity of the person). Constraining abuses of power by the State is at the heart of the Court’s response to interception and retention frameworks for the purposes of State surveillance. However, there has not been a single legal action and zero scholarship addressing the lack of lawful authority, necessity, and proportionality needed to legally manipulate individuals, groups, and even society using data that is legally collected and retained. As the state’s technological capabilities intensify, the more surveillance expands into the life of citizens and groups. Yet there has been little attempt by scholars to compartmentalize surveillance-to-manipulate into the same rights-based framework that has constrained surveillance-to-observe-and-predict. We argue that these forms of state manipulation infringe fundamental rights and action is needed to effectively protect individuals from surveillance-to-manipulate.