Neurorights and the Right to Be Forgotten
Data from the Ministry of Communication and Informatics (2022/2023) shows that average usage reaches 8 hours and 36 minutes per day, with 37.5% of 24 hours spent online. Globally, the average time spent on social media is increasing, at 2 hours and 31 minutes per day, while in Indonesia it reaches 3 hours and 11 minutes (data as of March 2024).
Imagine this: with Indonesia’s life expectancy of 74 years minus 16 years according to Minister of Communication and Digital Regulation Number 9 of 2026 on internet usage restrictions, Indonesians have the opportunity to use the internet for 58 years.
Suppose an internet user spends 1,080 hours per year or 62,640 hours in a lifetime. This means we are already in the grip of information technology, even at risk of making our thinking patterns shallow and accustomed to quick thinking without mature processes.
The transformation of information technology moves like a meteor or a juggernaut traversing a free highway, as predicted by many leading experts, thinkers, and futurologists.
The American computer scientist and futurist Kurzweil is known for his bold predictions about the future of artificial intelligence (AI) and biotechnology.
Kurzweil is a key figure in the transhumanism movement and popular for the concept of Singularity, the point in time when machine intelligence will surpass human intelligence and the two will merge through technology.
Like it or not, we must accept that we are currently at the point where humans are meeting man-made technology. Humans create technology and vice versa, which has provided positive benefits while also threatening life.
A comparison of intimate distances between humans with nuclear families and technology shows a significant shift in behaviour, where technology often creates ‘physically close but emotionally distant’ distances (close on gadgets, far in the heart).
Meanwhile, nuclear families operate in actual physical intimate zones (0-46 cm), while technology creates a ‘pseudo-intimate’ space that makes humans only feel emotionally close despite physical separation.
George Orwell’s 1984 predicted a future marked by totalitarianism, mass surveillance, information manipulation, and the erosion of truth.
This prophecy highlights how states or rulers use fear and technology to control minds and destroy the human soul.
If we delve into the historiography of human civilisation with technology:
- Prehistoric Technology (Stone and Metal Ages)
This phase is marked by simple manual tools made from stone, bone, or wood.
- Ancient to Medieval Technology
Technology began to develop with the use of wheels, irrigation systems, and more complex building construction methods.
- Industrial Revolution (Machines and Steam)
This phase transformed manual production into mechanical. Steam- and electricity-based technologies accelerated mass production.
- Information and Digital Technology Era (1980s to present)
Began with the invention of personal computers (PCs), followed by the internet, and the development of social media. This is the transition stage to the digital world.
- Intelligent Technology Era (Era 4.0 - 5.0)
The latest phase where technology not only processes data but can also learn (machine learning) and connect automatically (IoT).
Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), Blockchain, Virtual Reality (VR), Robotics, advanced data analysis, and human-centred intelligence.
- Current Main Technology Trends, AI and Machine Learning
Intelligent systems that mimic human cognition. This evolution shows a shift from technology that assists human physicality to technology that assists human cognition (intelligence).
When technology dominates humans, humans must prepare to face and anticipate it. As the Minister of Human Rights of the Republic of Indonesia, I am preparing progressive human rights laws to protect human dignity, honour, and dignity from real technological threats.
There are two policies being prepared by the Ministry of Human Rights, namely:
- Neuro-rights law is a principle of ethics, law, and society aimed at protecting the mental realm and human brain from potential misuse of advanced neurotechnology.
This is a development of human rights to ensure mental privacy, personal identity, and individual free will in the AI and neurotechnology era.
The following are key points regarding neuro-rights law: its main purpose is to protect thought privacy, prevent brain manipulation, and ensure ethical use of neural technology.
We must and have to introduce this Human Rights Law because brain-reading technologies (such as MRI, fMRI, EEG) and brain-computer interfaces are increasingly capable of reading, manipulating, or recording mental activities.
Several countries are beginning to adopt this principle, including initiatives to make it a new human right to protect human dignity.
Neuro-rights are considered an extension of existing human rights to address specific risks from the rapid advancement of neurotechnology.
- Technology has intimidated humans, discredited human dignity, carried out verbal torture, and even disrupted human existence in society.
To maintain the supremacy of creation and preserve the honour and dignity of highly civilised humans, the Ministry of Human Rights is inserting a special article on the right to be forgotten or ‘hak untuk dilupakan’ in the revision of the Human Rights Law.
This step aims to restore a person’s image due to past digital traces, even though that person has not been legally proven to have committed a violation.
In the Draft Human Rights Law, we are inserting a special article on the right to be forgotten.
The deletion of digital traces is carried out through a court mechanism. Someone who has been reported as involved in a legal case but not proven in court can request that their digital traces be deleted.
For example