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There is a comparison I can make between current events and the novel 1948. One of the current events that has happened in the past 3 years is the attempt to ban over 700 books in public libraries. Since 2022 book banning has increased by a drastic amount. Deborah Caldwell-Stone a director of ALA's Office for Intellectual Freedom says “These attacks on our freedom to read should trouble every person who values liberty and our constitutional rights. This is one of the main themes mentioned in 1984. Constitutional rights cover a broad scale of many different laws and freedoms and the novel 1984 relates to this article because freedom is being attacked and altered in both. ALA President Emily Drabinski said. What this data set does not reveal are the people who want books that speak to their lived experience and librarians who want to make books accessible to people who find them relevant. Both are under attack.” This is similar because in the novel 1948 people suffer a similar reality by not being able to share thoughts and ideas through writing.

-Jillian Lv

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Title: "1984 and George Orwell Live Again in Putin's Russia"

Author: Stuart Anderson

Source: Forbes

In George Orwell's "1984," the government controls what people know and shuts down anyone who disagrees to stay in control. Stuart Anderson wrote in Forbes about how this is happening in Russia under President Putin, and it's a lot like what Orwell wrote about. Putin's government is making it hard for people to speak out and shutting down news sources that don't agree with them, just like in "1984." They've even made laws that stop organizations from speaking out against them and call them "foreign agents." Anderson explains how this limits people's ability to criticize the government freely. Independent reporters face serious problems too, with some even getting hurt for telling the truth. The government keeps a close eye on the internet, much like the screens in "1984" that watched everyone. Anderson also talks about how Putin's government changes history to make themselves look better and stay in power, just like the Party in "1984" changed the past to control the future. It's all about keeping control and stopping anyone who disagrees, just like Orwell warned us about.

-Journey Smith

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A man reads a Russian translation of George Orwell's book "1984" at Moscow's Pushkinskaya Square on ... [+]
AFP via Getty Images

Soviet citizens reading George Orwell's 1984 were amazed that the British author never set foot in the USSR yet described the country so well. A timely book by Masha Karp, a former Russian Features editor for the BBC World Service, shines a light on an unexplored topic-George Orwell and Russia. Government oppression, official gaslighting and fabricating history did not die with Orwell's model for 1984,the Soviet Union. Russian leader Vladimir Putin retooled these practices for the 21 st century.

War and Peace

Vladimir Putin's pining for the Soviet Union, falsifying history and distorting current events to wage a war against Ukraine show the continued relevance of Orwell's works, according to Masha Karp.

"Putin's Russia had been moving toward totalitarianism for years, but the invasion of Ukraine triggered the endgame, and within days the country displayed an even stronger resemblance to the absurd totalitarian monster described by Orwell," writes Karp. "The word 'war' was instantly banned and ordered to be replaced, on pain of prosecution, by the phrase 'a special military operation.' Those who came out into the streets with placards bearing the Oceania slogans [from 1984] 'War is Peace,' 'Freedom is Slavery,' 'Ignorance is Strength' or their variations were detained and a man who handed out free copies of Orwell's novel was charged with the administrative offense of 'discrediting Russia's armed forces.'"

Julia Davis, columnist for The Daily Beast and creator of the Russian Media Monitor, described a recent segment on Russian state television: "Even Orwell would be amazed if he could hear the head of RT Margarita Simonyan and her fellow propagandists claim that the West is forcing Russia to kill Ukrainians and they pity Ukrainians more than Ukrainians pity themselves."

In 2022, the Sydney Morning Heraldreported that 1984 was "the most popular fiction download," according to the Russian online bookseller LitRes.

Orwell's 1984 describes individuals obeying or modestly rebelling inside a totalitarian state that controls the news media, history books and all relevant levers in society. He based the falsification of history, including the government denying another country had been a wartime ally, on the 1939 Nazi-Soviet pact, which "paved the way for the joint invasion and occupation of Poland by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union that September." ( U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.)

Putin made Russia's victory in World War II-called the "Great Patriotic War"-central to his regime's legitimacy. As such, he has continued the Soviet practice of denying the temporary Nazi-Soviet alliance and punishing historians who say otherwise.

Orwell's Animal Farm, published in 1945, satirized the leaders of the Bolshevik Revolution as pigs who exploit workers (the other animals), falsify the events of the revolution and arrange privileges for themselves.

Before publishing 1984 and Animal Farm, Orwell said he planned to describe "the huge system of organized lying . . . the sinister possibilities of the radio, State-controlled education and so forth" [for indoctrination] and the perils of a leader with undisputed authority.

Stalin and Orwell

After the Bolshevik Revolution in October 1917, Joseph Stalin eliminated his rivals in the 1920s and ruled the Soviet Union until he died in 1953. Compared to people in many other countries, Soviet citizens lived in a type of prison state, including being barred from leaving the country, and suffering from widespread shortages of food, clothing and other goods.

Stalin enacted economic policies that killed millions of Ukrainians from famine in the 1930s and kept Soviet citizens far poorer than their counterparts in Western nations. He imposed Soviet control over Eastern Europe, forcing residents of foreign countries also to live without liberty or economic prosperity. Stalin eliminated freedom of speech and executed or imprisoned millions of Soviet citizens during the Great Terror. He also left the Soviet Union largely unprepared for World War II, including by killing or arresting many experienced military leaders.

Russian political prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza believes that failing to open the archives and condemn the Soviet past after the USSR's collapse gave Vladimir Putin the chance to return authoritarian rule to Russia. "We have no right to repeat this mistake when the window of opportunity opens again," he wrote in the Washington Post. "All archives must be opened and published. All the crimes of both the Soviet and Putin regimes must receive a proper evaluation at the state level. All structures involved in these crimes-above all the FSB (security services)-must be liquidated, and the people who committed these crimes must be held accountable before the law."

In 1984, the state forces Winston Smith to love Big Brother, Orwell's fictional leader modeled on Joseph Stalin. "The final words of 1984 are so convincing-nothing less than love was demanded for Stalin!" writes Karp, "The main thrust of the novel-and this was fully understood by Soviet readers-lay in the idea of human fragility under the relentless pressure of the state, 'a boot stamping on a human face-forever. And it was not just fragility under torture, although this was well known to millions who had been in Stalin's prisons where 'confessions' were demanded, it was fragility under the systematic endeavor of the totalitarian state to control the mind and thus destroy the individual's integrity and capacity to resist."

Orwell believed it was impossible to produce literature under a totalitarian regime. Soviet writers, particularly during the Stalin era, often created " for the drawer." Many works could not be published until years after their deaths. After the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, many writers and journalists left Russia.

Were he still alive, Orwell would have noticed in August 2023 when an Orthodox priest blessed a new statue erected in Russia to honor Joseph Stalin, even though the Soviet leader destroyed churches and persecuted religious believers.

Among the details in George Orwell and Russia:

- The scene in 1984 where Winston Smith's torturer forces him to admit 2 + 2 = 5 comes from an actual 1931 Soviet poster that reads, "2+2, plus workers' enthusiasm = 5."

- Although underground copies of 1984 and Animal Farm circulated in the Soviet Union, owning a copy could lead to five years in prison. "No wonder that on getting to the chapter where Winston Smith is reading the book, readers in the Soviet Union knew exactly how he felt," writes Karp.

- Unlike 1984, which Soviet publications attacked, Soviet officials were scared to write anything about Animal Farm because it depicted Stalin as a pig.

- Soviet authorities ordered special translations of 1984 and Animal Farm, along with other works they banned for the populace, so they could read the works themselves.

Russia Meets Orwell's Definition of Totalitarian

"The country is considered to be totalitarian when it is governed by a one-party dictatorship which does not permit legal opposition and crushes freedom of speech and the press," according to Orwell. Karp writes that Putin achieved that control over time by commandeering the media, arresting or assassinating opponents and ensuring opposition candidates could not take power via free elections.

In 1946, George Orwell reviewed Soviet novelist Evgeny Zamyatin's We. The book was written shortly after the Bolshevik Revolution, and influenced Orwell's work. Orwell quoted the utopia described in Zamyatin's We: "The guiding principle of the State is that happiness and freedom are incompatible."

When one removes the window dressing, that is the central message of all dictators: You can't be happy or secure unless you give up your freedom and submit to being ruled with an iron fist poised above your head. Orwell's message to Russians today is that freedom and happiness go together, and dictators will lie to promote tyranny over liberty.

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1984 And George Orwell Live Again In Putin's Russia

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Orwell's message to Russians is that freedom and happiness go together, and dictators lie to promote tyranny over liberty.

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The N.S.A. is always watching. Our privacy has been at stake for many years now, we have been under constant surveillance by many government agencies such as the National Security Agency, The Federal Bureau of Investigation, The Department of Homeland Security, and more. Many of which have invaded our right to privacy just like the people of Oceania in the novel “1984” written by George Orwell. Through these government agencies the U.S is constantly observing our posts, conversations, and much more. They are in charge of deeming things to be suspicious or not and because of this they are allowed to collect sensitive information that can be spread widely and that they will be able to hold on to for years. They are allowed to do this because of  Section 702 of The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act this allows the government to perform mass warrantless surveillance of international communications, thai includes calls, texts, emails, social media messages, and web browsing. The government tries to say that they are only looking for targeted  information but any foreigner that is abroad could be under surveillance such as journalists, researchers, and business people. In other words the government is in a massive violation with our human rights and how Winston once said “You had to live– did live, from habit that became instinct– in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness,every moment scrutinized.”(Chapter 1 Pg.3)

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Privacy today faces growing threats from a growing surveillance apparatus that is often justified in the name of national security. Numerous government agencies-including the National Security Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security, and state and local law enforcement agencies-intrude upon the private communications of innocent citizens, amass vast databases of who we call and when, and catalog "suspicious activities" based on the vaguest standards.

The government's collection of this sensitive information is itself an invasion of privacy. But its use of this data is also rife with abuse. Innocuous data is fed into bloated watchlists, with severe consequences-innocent individuals have found themselves unable to board planes, barred from certain types of jobs, shut out of their bank accounts, and repeatedly questioned by authorities. Once information is in the government's hands, it can be shared widely and retained for years, and the rules about access and use can be changed entirely in secret without the public ever knowing.

Our Constitution and democratic system demand that the government be transparent and accountable to the people, not the other way around. History has shown that powerful, secret surveillance tools will almost certainly be abused for political ends and turned disproportionately on disfavored minorities.

The ACLU has been at the forefront of the struggle to prevent the entrenchment of a surveillance state by challenging the secrecy of the government's surveillance and watchlisting practices; its violations of our rights to privacy, free speech, due process, and association; and its stigmatization of minority communities and activists disproportionately targeted by surveillance.

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Privacy and Surveillance | American Civil Liberties Union

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The ACLU works in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties that the Constitution and the laws of the United States guarantee everyone in this country.

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Senate advances renewal of key US surveillance program as detractors seek changes

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In the 1984 novel they cover many topics including hard core surveillance among their citizens. They have things called telescreens which monitors them closely. In this novel many things can be compared to real life current events. For example, this article titled Senate advances renewal of key US surveillance program as detractors seek changes by Farnoush Amiri talks about how the government is trying to reauthorize a key US surveillance tool that our society is concerned will violate Americans’ civil liberties. This key US surveillance tool that they are trying to authorize will allow them to access all of our personal information on the internet. The point of this is too stop cyber attacks as well as identifying potential terrorism. Ever since 9/11 occurred in the US, the government has tried to be very tight and cautious with their security. These security changes have been a big argument among the government and US citizens for a very long while now. This can actually be seen as a difference to the novel because you are allowed to have an opinion without being killed or charged with thought crime. Although the government is trying to change this program that is running the key surveillance tool, they are being denied because it would destroy the whole purpose of this privacy program. Like in the 1984 novel, they can definitely use this power for different things besides what they are saying and just use it to completely invade the privacy that was promised to us. Our world definitely has the potential of becoming like this dystopian fiction novel as long as our government takes more and more of what was given long ago.

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WASHINGTON (AP) - The Senate advanced legislation Thursday that would reauthorize a key U.S. surveillance tool as lawmakers and the Biden administration rushed to tamp down fresh concerns about the program violating Americans' civil liberties.

The bipartisan legislation would reform and extend a section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act known as Section 702, which U.S. officials say is vital to preventing terrorism, catching spies and disrupting cyberattacks. A bill renewing the program passed the House last week after a dramatic showdown on the floor over whether the FBI should be restricted from using the program to search for Americans' data.

But the same concerns that nearly derailed the bill in the House are flaring again in the Senate, with both progressives and conservative lawmakers agitating for further changes. It's a dynamic that could ultimately jeopardize the bill's passage in the upper chamber, though supporters remain optimistic that the program will be reauthorized without much deal.

The Biden administration has spent the week on Capitol Hill providing classified briefings to senators on the crucial role they say the spy program plays in protecting national security. Officials warn that some of the changes being proposed to the tool could handicap the FBI's efforts to thwart threats to the U.S.

Opponents remain unfazed and have demanded that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer allow votes on amendments to the legislation that would seek to address what they see as civil liberty loopholes in the bill.

"The administration is making the case that if there's any changes, it's going to jeopardize the program," Democratic Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont said Thursday. "That's asking a lot of the Senate to basically abdicate its responsibility."

The legislation in its current form has the backing of not only the Biden administration but also the leaders of the national security committees in Congress, who have urged detractors to accept the mild reforms to the program. Sen. Marco Rubio, the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said that the changes being proposed by the various groups are "unnecessary" and would "destroy the purpose" of the program.

"If certain amendments like that were to pass, the bill would go back to the House and I just don't know what posture the House is going to be in to be able to take up legislation because we've got so much going on," Rubio said.

Though the spy program is technically set to expire Friday, the Biden administration has said it expects its authority to collect intelligence to remain operational for at least another year, thanks to an opinion earlier this month from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which receives surveillance applications.

Still, officials say that court approval shouldn't be a substitute for congressional authorization, especially since communications companies could cease cooperation with the government if the program is allowed to lapse.

Overall skepticism of the government's spy powers has grown dramatically in recent years, particularly on the right. Republicans clashed for months over what a legislative overhaul of the FISA surveillance program should look like, creating divisions that spilled onto the House floor last week as 19 Republicans broke with their party to prevent the bill from coming up for a vote.

In the end, House Speaker Mike Johnson managed to appease some critics of the reauthorization bill by shortening the extension of the program from five years to two years.

First authorized in 2008, the spy tool has been renewed several times since then as U.S. officials see it as crucial in disrupting terror attacks, cyber intrusions and foreign espionage. It has also produced intelligence that the U.S. has relied on for specific operations.

But the administration's efforts to secure reauthorization of the program have repeatedly encountered fierce, and bipartisan, pushback, with Democrats like Sen. Ron Wyden who have long championed civil liberties aligning with Republican supporters of former President Donald Trump, who in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday stated incorrectly that Section 702 had been used to spy on his presidential campaign.

A specific area of concern for lawmakers is the FBI's use of the vast intelligence repository to search for information about Americans and others in the U.S. Though the surveillance program only targets non-Americans in other countries, it also collects communications of Americans when they are in contact with those targeted foreigners.

In the past year, U.S. officials have revealed a series of abuses and mistakes by FBI analysts in improperly querying the intelligence repository for information about Americans or others in the U.S., including about a member of Congress and participants in the racial justice protests of 2020 and the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

___

Associated Press writer Eric Tucker contributed to this report.

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Senate advances renewal of key US surveillance program as detractors seek changes

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The Senate has advanced legislation that would reauthorize a key U.S. surveillance tool as lawmakers and the Biden administration rushed to tamp down fresh concerns about the program violating Americans' civil liberties.

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Jazeal Nunez

Within the article, “Governments Are Using Spyware On Citizens. Can They Be Stopped?” by Steven Feldstein it is described that government systems are attempting to spread digital surveillance worldwide. Considering this, it would allow many government systems to track and monitor their citizens which can make it easier to kill them off. This has relation to the book 1984 by George Orwell taking into consideration that telescreens which are devices placed within all homes to monitor and spy on citizens within this totalitarian government to make sure that each person is like the rest. “The telescreen received and transmitted simultaneously. Any sound that Winston made, above the level of a very low whisper, would be picked up by it; moreover, so long as he remained within the field of vision which the metal plaque commanded, he could be seen as well as heard. There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment.” (Orwell 5). Steven explains in the article that many people from all over the world are working to hack and collect data and information from different individuals either for themselves and the government. Government officials looking to kill off their populations and find reason to within this data being stolen, connecting to 1984 because any person that goes against their rules or expectations. This is something that is not new and has been recurring for many years through different systems. Privacy is something that we as human beings have never truly been entitled to as every bit of data and information that we contain within devices, security cameras, home appliances, and all technology is always being hacked or invaded by another individual. This shows that the government could care less about our security and safety but rather find ways to rid of humans and lower populations. Yet another connection to the book 1984, as through breaching security and privacy of the citizens, they are able to find methods to ‘vaporize’ them. George Orwell’s novel describes a totalitarian government system who wants pure control over their communities through taking their right to individuality and security within their homes and space. This article is an example of how much governments cover up and make excuses as to why technology is not safe or continuing to encourage people to use this technology and give away their data.

https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/07/21/governments-are-using-spyware-on-citizens.-can-they-be-stopped-pub-85019

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The issues we face in 2024 are strikingly similar to those in 1984. People are being stolen from their emotions and subjected to torture. The government is either incapable of helping these individuals or simply chooses to ignore their suffering altogether. Across the world, human rights are being neglected just as they were in 1984. Amnesty International has recently published an article in which they express concern about a critical moment for international law. They describe how governments and corporations are blatantly disregarding rules and regulations. As stated here “Amnesty International’s report presents a stark assessment of the betrayal of human rights principles by today’s leaders and institution”.(Amnesty3) The article goes into the harsh treatment that some people are facing in their country, which the government seems to be ignoring. Additionally, the article discusses how new technologies are being used to discriminate against people of different races and backgrounds. I think the article expresses serious concern about the violation of human rights. It discusses in-depth the harsh treatment of the citizens and the government's unwillingness to address the issue. The citizens are being hurt, even while protesting, and their basic rights are being taken away. The new technology is also exposing many people to racism. Even innocent civilians are being harmed or killed by states at war with each other. This illustrates the disregard that both sides have for their citizens.   "During the year 2023, there were over 1,000 deaths of innocent civilians due to the attacks by the military and related militias. Despite knowing about these incidents, both the Myanmar military and the Russian authorities have not taken any measures to investigate or address such blatant violations."((Amnesty12) . This paragraph is related to the claim I made earlier. In the book "1984", it is explained how the government fails to provide any support or assistance to the people. The issues faced by the characters in the book are still relevant in today's world. People require support from the government, but it seems like the government is indifferent to their struggles, which is similar to the situation depicted in "1984".  The Israel-Hamas conflict sparked hundreds of protests worldwide. People demanded a ceasefire to end the staggering suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, as well as the release of all hostages taken by Hamas and other armed groups, long before many governments did. (Amnesty32)This text relates to 1994 when citizens were struggling and the government was doing little to nothing to help them. Torturing against citizens was common, as depicted in the book "Ministry of Love". "I believe that the book 1984 effectively portrays the issues we are currently facing, as I have previously discussed in an article. Additionally, many of the events that occurred in 1984 bear a striking resemblance to present-day events."   For instance, as mentioned in the book "Facecrime" The act of having an expressive facial expression. “To wear an improper expression on your face (to look incredulous when a victory was announced, for example) was itself a punishable offense”. (pg54)"I know it may not seem as grave as the violation of human rights, but it seems like people today have lost not just their voice, but also their emotions. It feels like they're living in a world similar to that depicted in the novel '1984', where their voice is silenced. They feel helpless, unable to fight for what's rightfully theirs." This book, published in 1994, bears striking similarities to our current world, highlighting the many issues that could lead us down a dystopian path. We need to understand and rectify the mistakes we are making today, including those made by the government. If we continue down this path, we are not far from the dystopian reality described in George Orwell's novel "1984". We must become aware of the need for change and ensure that human rights are never taken away in any situation.

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Amnesty International found that political actors in many parts of the world are ramping up their attacks on women, LGBTI people and marginalized communities who have historically been scapegoated for political or electoral gains. New and existing technologies have increasingly been weaponized to aid and abet these repressive political forces to spread disinformation, pit communities against each other and attack minorities.

The report also points to the expansive use of existing technologies to entrench discriminatory policies. States including Argentina, Brazil, India and the UK have increasingly turned to facial recognition technologies to police public protests and sporting events and discriminate against marginalized communities - particularly migrants and refugees. For example, in response to legal action by Amnesty International, the New York Police Department revealed in 2023 how it used the technology to subject Black Lives Matter protests in the city to surveillance.

The nefarious use of facial recognition was no more pervasive than in the West Bank of the Occupied Palestinian Territories where it was used by Israel to reinforce restrictions on freedom of movement and help maintain the system of apartheid.

In Serbia, the introduction of a semi-automated social welfare system resulted in thousands of people losing access to vital social assistance. This particularly affected Roma communities and people with disabilities, demonstrating how unchecked automation can exacerbate inequality.

With millions fleeing conflicts around the world, the report notes how abusive technologies were relied upon for migration governance and border enforcement, including through use of digital alternatives to detention, border externalization technologies, data software, biometrics and algorithmic decision-making systems. The proliferation of these technologies perpetuates and reinforces discrimination, racism, and disproportionate and unlawful surveillance against racialized people.

Meanwhile, spyware has remained largely unregulated, despite the long-term evidence of the human rights violations it drives, with activists-in-exile, journalists and human rights defenders usually among those targeted. In 2023, Amnesty International uncovered the use of Pegasus spyware against journalists and civil society activists in countries including Armenia, the Dominican Republic, India and Serbia, while EU-based and regulated spyware was freely sold to states the world over.

Big Tech's surveillance business model is pouring fuel on this fire of hate, enabling those with malintent to hound, dehumanize and amplify dangerous narratives to consolidate power or polling.
Agnès Callamard

Over the past year the rapid trajectory of generative AI, has transformed the scale of the threat posed by the gamut of technologies already in existence - from spyware to state automation and social media's run-away algorithms.

In the face of rapacious advancements, regulation has largely remained stagnant. However, in a sign that European policymakers are beginning to act, a landmark EU-wide Digital Services Act came into force in February 2024. While imperfect and incomplete, it has nevertheless triggered a much-needed global debate on AI regulation.

"There is a vast chasm between the risks posed by the unchecked advancement of technologies, and where we need to be in terms of regulation and protection. It's our future foretold and will only worsen unless the rampant proliferation of unregulated technology is curtailed," said Agnès Callamard.

Amnesty International exposed how Facebook's algorithms contributed to ethnic violence in Ethiopia in the context of armed conflict. This is a prime example of how technology is weaponized to pit communities against each other, particularly in times of instability.

The human rights organization forecasts that these problems will escalate in a landmark election year, with the surveillance-based business model underpinning major social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube acting as a catalyst for human rights violations in the context of elections.

"We've seen how hate, discrimination and disinformation are amplified and spread by social media algorithms optimized to maximize 'engagement' above all else. They create an endless and dangerous feedback loop, particularly at times of heightened political sensitivity. Tools can generate synthetic images, audio and video in seconds, as well as target specific audience groups at scale, but electoral regulation has yet to catch up with this threat. To date we've seen too much talk with too little action," said Agnès Callamard.

In November, the US presidential election will take place in the face of increasing discrimination, harassment and abuse on social media platforms towards marginalized communities including LGBTI people. Threatening and intimidating anti-abortion content has also become rife.

About a billion people are voting in India's election this year against a backdrop of attacks on peaceful protesters and systematic discrimination against religious minorities. In 2023 Amnesty International revealed that invasive spyware had been used to target prominent Indian journalists, and more broadly tech platforms have become political battlefields.

"Politicians have long used manipulation of 'us vs. them' narratives to win votes and outmanoeuvre legitimate questions about economic and security fears. We've seen how unregulated technologies, such as facial recognition, have been used to entrench discrimination. Coupled with this, Big Tech's surveillance business model is pouring fuel on this fire of hate, enabling those with malintent to hound, dehumanize and amplify dangerous narratives to consolidate power or polling. It's a chilling spectre of what's to come as technological advances rapaciously outpace accountability," said Agnès Callamard.

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Flagrant rule-breaking by governments and corporate actors

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Amnesty International sounds alarm on watershed moment for international law supercharged by rapid advancements in technology.

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Amanda Salcido

While reading the article from “Dating in North Korea” its similar to the novel 1984 because the whole book is talking about a time where killing and invasion of privacy is ok, where everyone is completely controlled. Another article that can compare to both these situation would be “The Battle for Digital Privacy Is Reshaping The Internet”  by Nytimes.com written by The New york Times Published in September 16, 2021 and updated june 23, 2023, by Brian X. Chen. This article compares to both of the article because throughout the years people were tracked from site to site by certain ads or technologies that would invade their privacy. letting the other person hack their personal identity. This is something that is compared to 1984 because in the book Winston followed by other people who live under the rules of their government, talks about having a telescreen, cameras tracking on what they do or control on what they watch. They would keep up with everyone's personal thoughts. To see if it would be considered a thought crime or should be punished to be against Big Brother. In the article it states “It kind of feels like you’re being tracked, and that’s because you are,” Mr. Federighi said. “No longer” “ It relates to the novel because in today’s issue being accurate to 1984 our personal information is always being stalked and we never know if our important information is considered safe, or to know if its being shared without knowing. We would never know if we will get the privacy privilege we deserve, without having to worry.

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Facial recognition technology today empowers governments to identify protestors at

demonstrations, raising concerns about a chilling similarity to the world of 1984, found in

the following article:

https://restofworld orq/2024/facial-recoqnition-qovernment-protest-surveillance/

In George Orwell's novel/ 1984, Big Brother employs constant surveillance to crush dissent/

with thoughtcrime itself punishable by vaporization. While facial recogntion isn't quite as

extreme, the ability to monitor and potentially punish protestors creates a climate of fear

that discourages dissenti just like the ever-present eye of Big Brother.

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Wendy Campbell

Did you know that China is the most surveillanced country in the world. With over 54% of CCTV cameras located in China it has over 415.8 million camera. In the book 1984, surveillance is a key part of how Big Brothers controls and has power over Oceania. In houses, job, bathrooms, anywhere and everywhere, you’ll always be watched and the fear of the citizens doing something illegal knowing there being watched and will be punished multiplies. In the article, (MIT Technology Review, Zeyi Yang, Oct 10, 2022) states, “At the same time, the state has also used surveillance tech for good: to find abducted children, for example, and to improve traffic control and trash management in populous cities.” Yes it invades privacy, yes it makes people scared that they are constantly being watched, but it protects the citizens, helps them be a safer country and lessens the risks of crimes.

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In the article “Afghanistan is world’s most repressive country for women” By Ap News we read about how women have very much no rights. In 2021 women used to be the ruler of home but in august 2021 this changed. Women have no rights at this moment. Girls are banned from education beyond sixth grade and women are barred from working, studying, traveling without a male companion, and even going to parks or bath houses. This topics can relate to 1984 where the people have no freedom of speech, the suffer from government control, marriage regulations, and education regulations. In 1984 is a little bit different on the way the government controls people because they brainwash their technology and information but is all with the same result. a society that is against the government but they cannot do nothing about it.

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An event relating to the book 1984 by George Orwell is the rise of "fake news", focusing more on X and the spread of false information through social media platforms. Like most, X is common in the succession of misleading information, propaganda, and public opinion manipulation which has concerned people to think about whether what they see on their app is truth or fake and the potential for controlling narratives. This relates to the concept of "Newspeak" in "1984," whereas language is dulled to control and limit the range of thought. About 6 months ago, the official war propaganda was being published and amplified in full by certain X premium accounts, and the blue check mark gives them special privileges that by pass certain restrictions including algorithmic amplification and search. Even what the country at war itself posts about it they aren't getting nearly enough views as these paid blue check marks. This also had a similarity with 1984 because it reminded me of big brother, and how he sways public opinion with his words to keep them under his control.

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In "The Russia's Democratic Dictatorship" by Robert V. Daniels states that there hasn't been a stable leader like Putin since 1982 but this comes at a cost of Putin holding complete control over the government and his people. Putin is a tyrannical dictator who will step on people to get his way and to make his rich buddies happy. Putin is a war criminal who has bombed school children. Putin used to be popular but changed drastically during the Ukraine war. in 1984 big brother also bombs civilians and holds complete and utter control over the country, both Putin and big brother punish people who go against their narrative like how the Russian police arrested the a Russian father because his 6 year old kid wrote in class that Russian and Ukraine should have peace, the father got his parenting license revoked, sent to a work camp for 5 years and is not allowed to see his daughter till she's 18. Putin also likes to disappear people like Stalin and big brother. big brother and Vladimir Putin both do not their people to.

Francisco J Gandarilla Padilla

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Malachi Winfrey

Turkmenistan is a secular democracy but the president,  Serdar Berdimuhamedov controls almost all aspects of the country in the way a totalitarian government would. The election was not proven to be fair because Turkmenistan did not allow observation. Just like North Korea, Turkmenistan severely lacks human rights. "Significant human rights issues included reports of: recent cases of forced disappearance; torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment by police and prison officials; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary detention; political prisoners"(U.S.Dep't of State, Bureau of Democracy,H.R. and Lab<2022 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Turkmenistan> <state.gov>

. 1984 reflects these issues in a more extreme way. Citizens of Airstrip One are constantly under surveillance by the party. They can’t use a lot of facial expressions because they might be viewed as facecrime & thoughtcrime  and that is punishable by torture of labor camps. “In the vast majority of cases there was no trial, no report of the arrest. People simply disappeared, always during the night.”(Orwell, 20)

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Is you government leaking your personal data? The truth is that collecting data has a higher risk than reward now and studies say that it's impossible to go through your daily life without your data being tracked. The government as well ass companies are always going through your data on a daily basis. Study shows that every time you use the internet on a daily basis there is a 63% your data is being accessed/tracked. A way that this connects to the 1984 is how everything the members of the party do is tracked and watched by “BIG BROTHER”.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/02/28/government-buying-your-data-00143742

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In North Korea they use there surveillance to watch people and illegal activity that they do. In the article "Digital surveillance in North Korea" If they were to suspect the fact that you were doing something that you weren't supposed to they had probable cause. Even though the citizens do live in north Korea they still know very little about the surveillance cameras just like in our book 1984. In 1984 the citizens know very little to nothing about the telescreens that watch them and the cameras. Both North Korea and the book 1984 have limited ways and they limit the way people think which will also cause them to be limited in what they do in person. In the book 1984 Winston states "The telescreen and big brother are always watching" and in the article it also states "They can spot subtle changes in behavior that might signal illicit activities.

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The article: “We Need to Take Back Our Privacy” by Zeynep Tufekci, writes on how we actually are being monitored in life by the technology we use modernly.

In 1984, a constant obstacle of the book are Telescreens, devices set up everywhere so the totalitarian party can monitor their citizens at all times. “There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment.” pg 5 of 1984. according to Tufekci’s article new technologies can provide companies similar functions to a Telescreen. All this can be scooped up by a vast apparatus of surveillance, to be analyzed by powerful computational techniques, along with images from cameras on streets, phones and satellites."

Despite the fact that George Orwell’s dystopian novel “1984” is fictional, the themes present in the book about the government breaching our privacy linger today in our own world as a stark remind of the blurry line between fiction and reality.

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In the article “The Future of the State” written by by James Crabtree, Robert D. Kaplan, Robert Muggah, Kumi Naidoo, Shannon K. O'Neil, Adam Posen, Kenneth Roth, Bruce Schneier, Stephen M. Walt, Alexandra Wrage and Stefan Theil, we read about the effects of the pandemic, and how it led the government to watch over us and control us in ways not seen prior, in 1984, the party is already watching over them every second of everyday. The government is using the excuse of helping rebuild the economy to infiltrate into all kinds of businesses, and “helping them rebuild”. There is an increased amount of surveillance. “Future pandemic management will clearly require larger governments, too, as states rush to create expansive new tools of disease control, workplace management, and social surveillance in the hope of curbing future outbreaks in advance of a vaccine. Again, this is an area where Asian governments such as South Korea and Japan are likely to take the lead”. This large excerpt from the article talks about how Asian governments who already have much experience with surveillance and managing over the people are most likely to step in when it comes to another “pandemic” or another situation that the government will deem sufficient enough to watch over us. In the 1984 dystopian society, they are already being watched over 24/7 and barely have any sense of privacy, although the article doesn't talk of such an extreme side of it, we are well on our way.

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The ‘Mandela effect’ is when a group of people remember something one way, while it was never that way at all.  In ‘The ‘Mandela Effect:’ A Psychologist Explains Collective False Memories’ written by Mark Travers, an American psychologist, he explains that the ‘Mandela effect’ is and example of a false memory.  Travers writes, “The researchers explain that our working self takes cues to build detailed memories based on the knowledge they bring up.”.  In the 1984 novel, part 2 chapter 5, Winston and Julia discuss of wars between Oceania and Eurasia.  In the novel it states, “but apparently she had not even noticed that the name of the enemy had changed.” Pg. 127.  While discussing said war. Winston had recalled the war with Eurasia, while Julia had recalled peace with Eurasia, and war with Eastasia.  The connection is that Winston and Julia both recall different wars, with other countries that sound very familiar to each other.  Later on, Julia realizes she does have a memory of war with Eurasia, and the timelines aren’t lining up with each other.  This also goes to show The Party is in fact altering memories, and if they do remember, it is probably brushed off as a “false memory” like that of the ‘Mandela effect’ which people still experience with logos, or popular sayings that they remember a certain way along with many others yet it seems it was never really that but something similar.

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Many of the themes illustrated in George Orwell's 1984 are still very relevant in today's world.  In the novel 1984 Telescreens are used by the party to spy on the people of Oceania, in the U.S. our phones are used as a way for the government to spy on us.  According to (VeePN Research Lab at veepn.com) “For most authorities that collect massive amounts of data about users, such as the NSA and CIA, mass surveillance is justified as a measure against potential terrorist attacks and other national threats.”(VeePN Research Lab). The government has the ability to watch our every move online whenever they have probable cause.  Sometimes they don’t even need a probable cause to look into you.  “How often, or on what system, the Thought Police plugged in on any individual wire was guesswork.  It was conceivable that they watched everybody all the time.  But at any rate they could plug in your wire whenever they wanted to.”(Orwell 6).  The Thought Police use Telescreens to spy on the people of Oceania, their Telescreens are in a way the same thing as our devices such as phones and computers.  This is just one of the many things going on currently that relates to the book 1984.

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Vanessa Moreno

One main topic in the book 1984 is based on privacy and the invasion of privacy due to security cameras. In the article “Security Cameras Make Us Feel Safe, but Are They Worth the Invasion?” by Derek Abella he explains how cameras can invade a individuals privacy in many different ways just how the book 1984 explains that too. Derek then says later on in the text that security cameras can help with police investigated crimes in which they ask for permission from the owner of the security camera which can lead to a good thing in society. However, with the police being able to access your footage which that can be a sign of invasion of privacy since some companies allow that permission granted. Therefore, in the article he says “I am more concerned about how quickly our tech could change than I am about the deer munching on my flowers. I’ll plug my camera in when I leave the house for longer stints, like when I go on vacation. The rest of the time, though I’ll keep it unplugged, sitting on my window sill as a visual deterrent for porch pirates but not offering the police anything to snoop on” which can provide us a visual example how cameras can be a good but not so good thing at the same time.

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Alex Sandoval

Current events that are happening that can be considered similar to 1984 could be the BLM protest and USC protest against the side the school supports on the current events occurring in the war today. As you can see groups of people come together to show their hate towards a specific target or group and organizations/ governments throw blame on other parties. The article University of Southern California Confronts an Unfamiliar Area of Protest from the New York Times by Shawn Hubbler focuses mainly on the USC protest but brings up a wonderful example of how people came together during BLM. “Social movements have run through the university, including large turnouts for demonstrations in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd by police officers in Minnesota”(Shawn). This quote talks about how large groups of people, mainly the BLM movement, came together in protest against the government. after the murder of George Floyd. Similar to the book of 1984 during the two-minute hate many people come together to yell at Emmanuel Goldstein in hatred, when they were really yelling at the government in hatred. As you get into the article it starts to mention USC's action towards the protest in which it says “A columnist for the Jewish news site The Forward wrote that “once U.S.C. decided to offer Tabassum the top student speaking spot, the university needed to stand by its decision,” but instead had “compounded the shortsightedness and stoked even more anger: It blamed Jews.”(Shawn) This quote, explains how the University of Southern California decided to blame Jews for their decision to cancel the valedictorian speech due to the protest. I believe this is one of the biggest similarities to 1984 because The Party does the same thing when they try to say other countries are causing the war and that the rations are two to war. This is how the current protest at the Southern University of California and the actions of the school are similar to events that happened in the book 1984. In both this article and 1984 u see representation of how the school/ government shifts blame towards others and people coming together in hatred towards the civic group or party.

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Like the totalitarian control of the Party in the novel 1984 by George Orwell, the US government is trying to gain more control over their nation. In the novel, the Party has (almost) complete control over the things their citizens use and consume. This includes their food which is rationed, their household technology like the telescreens, and their household items which include both razor blades and saucepans where the supply had "unexpectedly given out" (pg 62 of 1984). These household items became scarce due to the lack of manufacturing done by the Party itself. They are trying to control it. In the same way, according to an article from The Epoch Times, The Biden administration is trying to gradually administer that same control into society today by targeting household appliances such as gas stoves, washing and drying machines, ceiling fans, etc. claiming that by doing this the citizens are helping prevent "global warming", one of the many ideologies they are trying to spread. This is done in an eerily similar way to the spread of the Party's ideologies of ¨hate week¨ for example. These attempts to control the lives of the people mimic the way the Party does things in the novel of 1984.