Digital dystopia is here: The Orwellian warning signs we can't ignore

When George Orwell’s novel 1984 was published in 1949, the world appreciated his work as a pure work of fiction, depicting an Orwellian society marked by constant surveillance, censorship, authoritarianism and the invasion of privacy.

After more than seventy years since the publication of this masterpiece, the work once called “pure fiction” is becoming an "unsettling reality.” It is no mistake to assume that today’s digital age is increasingly becoming an “Orwellian dystopia.”

The contemporary world is no different from the setting once portrayed by George Orwell in his novel. The civil liberties have been curtailed. Privacy, once held in high regard, is on the verge of being invaded. The Western governments, once the champion of civil liberties, are the ones who are stripping the people of their basic rights to privacy and freedom of expression.

For instance, in the US, critics and digital rights experts also point to the normalization of high-tech surveillance in local and federal law enforcement.

In its blogpost, The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) argued that the Trump administration is deploying advanced technologies based on AI and machine learning to create a digital police state. These technologies are allegedly provided by companies like Babel Street and Palantir.

According to recent reporting from 404 Media, Palantir’s ICE app, called ELITE, “populates a map with potential deportation targets, brings up a dossier on each person, and provides a ‘confidence score’ on the person’s current address,” sparking concerns that these tools could be misused against the citizens.

Similarly, in the United Kingdom, the outgoing government has been caught up in fierce backlash, stemming from its authoritarian moves to jeopardize the digital freedoms of Britons.

For instance, earlier this week, YouTube issued a warning to the creators about the potential changes coming to the platform as the UK government is set to take control of the YouTube algorithm. As per government’s statement, the move is meant to promote the preferential prominence of TV broadcasters on social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube.

However, the independent creators have expressed concerns that this move would damage the discoverability of their content while stifling their independent voices.

This is not the only issue that Britons are worried about. In fact, recently it was reported that the upcoming government will impose strict rules to block VPNs in a bid to enforce under-16s social media ban without any loophole. As per reports, to enforce this, the country may be forced to ban, monitor or require a mandatory digital ID check for every single VPN user in Britain.

On Tuesday, The government confirmed that its independent Digital ID Advisory watchdog, will not have its minutes published instead it will work in secrecy. To make matters worse, the group would not answer parliamentary questions related to the group budget and member selection process.

Such worrisome digital developments are not just confined to Britain. The European Union is also on the way of making privacy a real luxury in today's times.

Have you imagined what would you feel like when you know that your messages are being read by the tech companies? It would be the nail in the coffin of privacy and digital rights.

The European Parliament is set to extend the controversial legislation dubbed Chat Control through urgent procedure. Under the extension of these rules, the technologies companies would be allowed to read all messages and online communications of all users for child sexual abuse material.

All these unsettling developments have taken the internet by storm, sparking a fresh debate of privacy. Not only are the users worried, but also the political community is fearful of the introduction of measures that would restrict liberties. Some are calling it a “death of democracy.” Others are afraid that “we are sleepwalking into a dystopian future.”

In the case of the materialisation of all the aforementioned measures, undoubtedly, we would soon be living in Orwellian times.