DIGITAL STIGMA AND MENTAL HEALTH: LEGAL NARRATIVES OF SHAME, RESISTANCE, AND ACTIVISM
Subjects/Theme:
Digital stigma, Cyberbullying, Mental health rights, Cancel culture, Right to dignity, Right to privacy.Description
Life in the digital age has changed the nature of stigma surrounding mental health and fostered a new set of shamed, excluded, and resistant voices. Online spaces can be spaces of solidarity and activism, but can also serve to fuel negative practices like cyberbullying, cancel culture, and reputational shaming and heighten psychological distress and contribute to marginalisation. In this chapter, the intersection of digital stigma and mental health is from a legal perspective, placing classical theories of stigma within contemporary challenges of cyberspace. It looks at coping strategies like memes and funny videos, as well as activism networks and communities of peers, that are rallying behind digital campaigns to challenge the stigma, and call for recognition of rights. It identifies constitutional provisions, laws and international human rights instruments that together state that dignity, privacy, and inclusion are recognized. Judicial responses to online stigma are highlighted through case studies in India, Europe and the United States, each with a tension between freedom of expression and the protection of reputation. The chapter ends by highlighting the importance of creating more comprehensive legal frameworks, restorative justice and digital literacy programs to make cyberspace a space of healing, empowerment and promotion of mental health rights.
