The most dangerous thing we’ve lost: ‘the pause’

At the Free Speech Summit 2025, Nita Farahany delivers a timely keynote on cognitive liberty, the right to control your own thoughts in the digital age. As AI systems, algorithms, and neurotechnology increasingly shape attention and behavior, she argues that freedom of thought must be treated as a core civil liberty, not just a philosophical ideal.

Blending neuroscience, law, and technology, this talk explores digital compulsion, mental privacy, algorithmic influence, and the erosion of reflective thinking, and explains why protecting cognitive liberty is essential for autonomy, democracy, and free speech itself.