Photo : Collected
George Orwell’s dystopian novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, published in 1949, depicts an authoritarian government and its inhabitants. The story takes place in a fictional totalitarian state Oceania, where Big Brother holds the supreme authority and exerts total control over every aspect of the inhabitant’s life. The novel’s protagonist Winston Smith, gets disillusioned and struggles for his freedom. He meets a mysterious girl, Julia, and their love affair leads to further dissent against the government. Later they both get arrested for their forbidden action. Winston undergoes severe torture and later the party get him brainwashed and indoctrinated.
Throughout the novel, one core theme is the Government uses language as a tool to control and manipulate it’s inhabitants to prevent dissent. The novel is a political commentary on the dangers of totalitarianism and a warning to the government’s surveillance and manipulation.
Despite being published over a half-century ago, the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four is still relevant and thought-provoking. The concept of Big Brother is watching you depicts living under 24/7 constant surveillance under Telescreens. The Party and Big Brother devised Telescreens to collect all sorts of data and information about the inhabitants’ whereabouts, personalities, etc.
The constant surveillance is now more relevant than ever. We live in an age of social media, smartphones and data collection; that leads us to an important question, privacy. Many social media sites are the current version of Telescreens. In 2023 Meta got fined 1.3 billion dollars by European Union regulators for violating EU privacy laws by transferring personal data of Facebook users to the servers of United States.
In 2018 the former government of Bangladesh enacted the Digital Security Act and established a powerful surveillance network to regulate anti-government criticism. The former government expanded the practice of Thought Policing in the name of blocking anti-government propaganda. Since then thousands of people have been accused under the DSA act for criticizing the former prime minister and the former ministers.
Using social media is now inextricably linked to our life but our privacy is vulnerable. Orwell’s telescreen which can’t be switched off, records every conversation and monitors every movement of characters; bears a striking resemblance to our smartphones. Telescreens automatically push programs to the viewers and our current social media algorithm decides the content we watch on social media and shapes our vision of the world. By the concept of Doublethink and Newspeak, Orwell reveals how people’s emotions and actions can manipulated.
The individuals’ data and personal identity are important to the government agencies and the technology company. In 2023 a security concern arose as Bangladeshi NID card information leaked on Telegram. It was reported that the Telegram bot provided individuals' details when the 10-digit NID number was entered. The Thought Police in Nineteen Eighty-Four gathered personal details to suppress any dissent. The constant monitoring and control by the government in Nineteen Eighty-Four reflects the erosion of privacy in this modern age; our online activities, conversations, and even our physical movements are tracked and monitored.
In our increasingly interconnected world, technological advancements have enabled government agencies and technology companies to collect vast amounts of data and information on individuals. The effort of keeping privacy secret is now vulnerable and it has blurred the boundaries between public and private spheres.
Orwell’s dystopian masterpiece Nineteen Eighty-Four serves as a stark warning that the erosion of privacy can lead to profound repercussions in society.
Messenger/Sajib
