1
SURVEILLANCE AND SOCIETY
George Orwell’s ‘Big Brother’ concept in Surveillance
10.1 Session Objectives
By the end of this session, you should be able to:
Explain the relevance of George Orwell’s ‘Big Brother’ concept in surveillance.
10.2. Introduction
Big Brother is a fictional character and symbol in George Orwell’s dystopian 1949 novel
Nineteen Eighty Four. He is ostensibly the leader of Oceania, a totalitarian state
wherein the ruling party, , wields total power "for its own sake" over theIngsoc
inhabitants. In the society that Orwell describes, every citizen is under constant
surveillance by the authorities, mainly by telescreens (TV, spies) (with the
exception of
the Proles). The people are constantly reminded of this by the slogan "Big
Brother is
watching you": a maxim that is ubiquitously on display.
In modern culture, the term "Big Brother" has entered the lexicon as a synonym for
abuse of government power, particularly in respect to civil liberties, often specifically
related to mass surveillance.
10.3 The Background
Nineteen Eighty-four also published as 1984, novel by English author
George published in 1949 as a warning against totalitarianism. The
chilling dystopia made a deep impression on readers, and his ideas entered mainstream
culture in a way achieved by very few books. The book’s title and many of its concepts,
such as Big Brother and the Thought Police, are instantly recognized and understood,
often as bywords for modern social and political abuses.
The book is set in 1984 in Oceania, one of three perpetually warring totalitarian states
(the
other two are Eurasia and Eastasia). Oceania is governed by the all-controlling Party,
which has brainwashed the population into unthinking obedience to its leader, Big
Brother. The Party has created a propagandistic language known as , whichNewspeak
is designed to limit free thought and promote the Party’s doctrines. Its words
include
doublethink (belief in contradictory ideas simultaneously), which is reflected in
the Party’s slogans: “War is peace,” “Freedom is slavery,” and “Ignorance is strength.”
The Party maintains control through the Thought Police and continual surveillance.
The book’s hero, Winston Smith, is a minor party functionary living in a London that is
still shattered by a nuclear war that took place not long after World War II. He belongs
to the Outer Party, and his job is to rewrite history in the Ministry of Truth, bringing it
in line with current political thinking. However, Winston’s longing for truth and decency
leads him to secretly rebel against the government. He embarks on a forbidden affair
with Julia, a like-minded woman, and they rent a room in a neighbourhood populated
by Proles (short for ). Winston also becomesproletariats
increasingly interested in the Brotherhood, a group of dissenters. Unbeknownst to
Winston and Julia, however, they are being watched closely (ubiquitous posters
throughout the city warn residents that “Big Brother is watching you.”)
When Winston is approached by O’Brien—an official of the Inner Party who appears to
be a secret member of the Brotherhood—the trap is set. O’Brien is actually a spy for the
Party, on the lookout for “thought-criminals,” and Winston and Julia are eventually
caught and sent to the Ministry of Love for a violent reeducation. The ensuing
imprisonment, torture, and reeducation of Winston are intended not merely to break
him physically or make him submit but to root out his independence and destroy his
dignity and humanity. In Room 101, where prisoners are forced into submission by
exposure to their worst nightmares, Winston panics as a cage of rats is attached to his
head. He yells out for his tormentors to “Do it to Julia!” and states that
he does not care
what happens to her. With this betrayal, Winston is released. He later
encounters Julia, and
neither is interested in the other. Instead Winston loves Big Brother.
10.4 Analysis
Orwell wrote as a warning after years of brooding on theNineteen Eighty-four
twin menaces of Nazism and Stalinism. Its depiction of a state where daring to think
differently is rewarded with torture, where people are monitored every second of the
day, and where party propaganda trumps free speech and thought is a sobering
reminder of the evils of unaccountable governments. Winston is the symbol of the values
of civilized life, and his defeat is a poignant reminder of the vulnerability of such values
in the midst of all-powerful states.
10.5 Present context relevance with 1984:
In 1984, it was the state that determined what constituted acceptable speech in keeping
society orderly.
In 2019, it is a small cadre of private companies in Silicon Valley and their executives
that wield absolute power over what we are permitted to see and say online.
In 1984, there were just a few countries to which most of the world’s citizens belonged. In
2019, there are just a few social media empires to which most of the world’s netizens
belong.
In 1984, it was the state that conducted surveillance and censored speech.
In 2019, social media companies deploy vast armies of human and algorithmic
moderators that surveil their users 24/7, flagging those that commit thoughtcrimes
and deleting their violations from existence. Those that commit too many thought
crimes are banished to “unperson” status by these same private companies, without any
intervention or even in contradiction with the will of the state and without any right to
appeal.
In 1984, those who committed particularly egregious thoughtcrimes or had histories of
them were banished into nonexistence, all traces of them deleted.
In 2019, social media companies can ban anyone at any time for any reason. Those banished
from social’s walled gardens can have every post they’ve ever written wiped away, every
record of their existence banished into the memory hole. Those that dare to mention the
name of the digitally departed or criticize their banishment can themselves face being
banished and their concerns deleted, ensuring the “unperson” truly ceases to exist.
In 1984, the government constantly rewrites and deletes history that has become
inconvenient.
In 2019, governments quietly press releases to remove past statements that provedrewrite
wrong or to add statements to support their present assertions. Meanwhile the European
Union’s “Right to be Forgotten” grants ordinary citizens the ability to wipe clean society’s
memories of their past, allowing them to be “reborn” without the burden of their past
transgressions.
In 1984, ever-present “telescreens” act as both information conveyor and surveillance
device
and saturate both public and private spaces with cameras and microphones
monitored by the government.
In 2019, smartphones take on this role, acting as both our window to the digital world and
the means through which myriad private companies from data brokers to social
media companies themselves surveil our every action. Yet, our world goes far beyond the one
imagined by Orwell in which every device from our watches to our refrigerators, our
thermostats to our toasters, are increasingly Internet-connected and streaming a realtime
documentary of our lives back to these private surveillance empires.
In 1984, it was the state that made use of its vast surveillance empire to maintain order.
In
2019, a landscape of private companies so large it is almost uncountable, monitors,
monetizes and manipulates us.
In 1984, the government uses its surveillance state to nudge each member of its citizenry
towards a desired state.
In 2019, private companies do the same, building up vast behavioral and interest
profiles on each individual user that they then use to nudge them towards the most
monetizable behaviors.
In 1984, the government funded the vast empire of equipment and personnel needed to
maintain constant surveillance of its citizens.
In 2019, the public themselves fund the great surveillance empire that monitors,
monetizes and manipulates them. Citizens purchase the latest digital devices, upgrade and
maintain them at regular intervals, pay for the power and internet services needed
to
connect them and grant unlimited rights to their most intimate information to private
companies.
In 1984, the ultimate goal of the massive surveillance empire is to sustain and entrench
the
power of the state.
In 2019, the ultimate goal of the online world’s massive surveillance empire is to
sustain and entrench the power of social media companies.
Indeed, the similarities are nearly as endless as the words of the book.
Putting this all together, 70 years after 1984’s publication, it seems nearly every aspect
of
Orwell’s commentary on the surveillance state has come true. The only difference is
that Orwell saw surveillance and control as the domain of the state, whereas in reality
the surveillance world we have come to know is one of private companies monitoring,
monetizing and manipulating society for nothing more than commercial gain. In the
end, as we rush towards an ever more Orwellian world of surveillance and censorship,
perhaps we might all take the time to reread 1984 in order to better understand the
world we are rushing towards.
10.6 Session summary
This session explained the concept of ‘Big Brother’ to explain contemporary trends in
surveillance.
10.7 Student Activity
i.
Explain the concept of ‘Big Brother’ in Surveillance studies.
ii.
Discuss the impact of ‘Big Brother’ in the contemporary context.
10.8 Further Readings/References
i.
Steiner, H. & Veel, K. (2014). Invisibility Studies: Surveillance, Transparency
and the Hidden in Contemporary Culture. New York: Peter Lang AG,
Internationaler Verlag der Wissenschaften. ISBN-13: 978-3034309851
ii.
Fuchs, C., Boersma, K., Albrechtslund, A., Sandoval, M. (2012). Internet and
Surveillance: The Challenges of Web 2.0 and Social Media. London: Routledge.
ISBN-13: 978-0415633642
iii.
Freidewald, M., Burgess, P. J., Cas, J., Bellanova, R. & Peissl, W. (2017).
Surveillance, Privacy and Security: Citizens’ Perspectives. London: Routledge.
ISBN-13: 978-1138649248
