George Orwell’s book 1984 is now more than 70 years old. Despite its age, it has predicted much of today’s surveillance society. Omnipresent telescreens, as described in Orwell’s nineteen eighty-four, seem to have come to fruition with smart TVs now being found in almost every living room. His predictions thus far have been eerily accurate.
George Orwell’s 1984 Has Been Scarily Accurate
George Orwell’s novel 1984 was full of predictions of a dystopian surveillance state. Here, every word is monitored, unacceptable speech is deleted, history is rewritten or deleted altogether and individuals can become “unpersons” for holding views disliked by those in power. His predictions, as it has turned out so far, have been frighteningly accurate. This has made the nightmarish fantasy of Big Brother watching your every move a reality, with televisions now able to keep track of our conversations and activities.
Diffuse surveillance is also becoming more common with cameras being installed everywhere from malls to streets, ensuring that the Thought Police are never too far away. George Orwell may have written 1984 as a warning but it appears his predictions were not too far off the mark after all. (1)
An Old Book Rings True
Today, as the book turns 74, surveillance devices are everywhere. Social network pages are closely monitored and data mining is used to track individual search histories. Key technologies used in this process include information conveyors like location information systems and governmental involvement in keeping tabs on interrelated people. Private spaces are no longer off limits due to the presence of telescreens that allow authorities to monitor citizens’ activities at all times.
We now live in a society where our every move is being tracked and analyzed by powerful algorithms that can build profiles of our behavior in order to better target us for advertisements or even manipulate our opinions about certain topics. Orwell was right; we now live in a world where Big Brother truly does watch us, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight.
We’re Always Being Watched
As the 74th anniversary of George Orwell’s novel 1984 passes, it is clear that the vast surveillance empire he saw in his worst nightmares has become reality. Today’s surveillance societies use a wide range of practices to manipulate society for social control and private companies, like technology companies, have become some of the most powerful influences on our lives. (2)
Orwell predicted much of what we now experience when it comes to surveillance; from cameras in public spaces and online tracking devices to facial recognition software and more. These technologies are part of a larger apparatus used by governments and corporations to monitor citizens, collect data about them, and influence their behavior. As these technologies become more prevalent in our society, so too does Orwell’s dystopian vision seem ever-closer to becoming true. We must recognize this trend if we are going to be able to prevent manipulation by those with power over us. (3)
A Bleak Outlook
In the story, Winston Smith is a hapless middle-aged man living in the totalitarian government of Oceania. He is constantly monitored by the government and because of this he rebels against it. The government’s control over its citizens was seen as a way to force them into being committed members of society. For decades, this idea has been used by governments to keep control over their citizens. It can be seen in authoritarian countries as well as democratic ones, with both using various methods to monitor their populations – from CCTV cameras to tracking internet activity and more recently facial recognition software and biometric data harvesting for identification purposes. (4)
It is clear that surveillance societies are only going to become more ubiquitous in our world if we do not make changes now; whether it be through legislation or other means such as creating societies where freedom is valued above all else. Take this as your cue to increase your privacy settings on your social media apps or maybe go back to using an old brick phone to communicate with friends and family, to participate as little as possible in this controlling society.
Sources
- “As Orwell’s 1984 Turns 70 It Predicted Much Of Today’s Surveillance Society.” Forbes. Kalev Leetaru. May 6, 2019.
- “Exchanging Glances with Big Brother: Diffuse Surveillance in Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Today.” Cairn. Julie Alev Dilmaç and Özker Kocadal.
- “What Orwell’s ‘1984’ tells us about today’s world, 70 years after it was published.” The Conversation. Stephen Groening. June 12, 2019.
- “Science fiction and science education: 1984 in classroom.” TandF Online. Isabelle de Oliveira Moraes, et al. August 22, 2021.