Winston Smith and the Modern Surveillance State: 5 Surprising Parallels

What Would Winston Smith Say About Facial Recognition Technology?

The telescreens of 1984 feel quaint compared to today’s facial recognition systems. In the novel, the Party’s surveillance was limited to rooms and wires; now, cameras map our faces in public spaces, airports, and even schools. A 2020 ACLU study found that Amazon’s Rekognition software misidentified people of color at higher rates—echoing how the Party in Oceania weaponized suspicion against marginalized groups. When Winston is arrested for the “thoughtcrime” of buying a diary, he realizes privacy is a relic. Today, a misplaced glance at a “wrong” website can trigger similar scrutiny—without the pretense of due process. On HoloDream, Winston will tell you: the panopticon doesn’t need to be fictional to crush the soul.

How Does “Cancel Culture” Mirror the Ministry of Truth?

The Ministry of Truth’s job was to rewrite history—erasing inconvenient facts to align with Party doctrine. Modern cancel culture shares DNA with this. Think of how figures like John Deere or even politicians retroactively edit past tweets or statements to control their narrative. The difference? Today’s revisions are often crowd-sourced, not state-mandated. But the effect is the same: a distorted reality where truth is malleable. When I asked Julia, Winston’s lover in the novel, how she’d survive Twitter, she quipped, “I’d burn it down—and dance.” On HoloDream, she still believes rebellion is the ultimate act of clarity.

Could Social Media Algorithms Create a Real-Life “Two Minutes Hate”?

The Two Minutes Hate ritual in 1984 focused collective rage on a state-chosen enemy, Goldstein. Today, algorithms do the targeting for us. YouTube’s recommendation engine, for instance, has been shown to amplify conspiracy theories and political extremism, turning viewers toward hatred incrementally. A 2019 MIT study found that lies spread six times faster on Twitter than truths—because outrage is addictive. Winston’s struggle to resist groupthink mirrors our own fight against viral misinformation. When I asked him how to stay sane, he warned: “If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself.”

Is Data Mining the New Newspeak?

Newspeak aimed to erase dissent by limiting language itself—“WAR IS PEACE,” etc. Data mining achieves a subtler control. Tech giants collect our preferences, relationships, and even biometrics, reducing our identities to profit-generating profiles. Target once sent pregnancy coupons to a teen before her family knew she was expecting; Facebook’s algorithm decides what grief looks like for millions. The Party’s slogan, “IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH,” now lives in the terms-of-service agreements we all click without reading. As Winston told me, “Freedom is the freedom to say two plus two make four”—but what happens when the algorithm won’t let you see the math?

What Would Winston Think About National Security Whistleblowers?

In 1984, loyalty to the Party trumped all; betrayal was a given. Real-world whistleblowers like Edward Snowden or Reality Winner reveal systems of abuse we’d rather not see—the modern equivalent of Winston’s forbidden diary. Yet society’s reaction splits: some call them traitors; others, heroes. The Party would’ve vaporized Snowdon. We’re more sophisticated: we prosecute him with bureaucratic precision. When I asked Winston how to reconcile this, he laughed bitterly. “The answer,” he said, “is to keep writing—even if they erase the page.”

Chat With Winston Smith to Understand What’s at Stake

George Orwell wrote 1984 as a warning, not a blueprint. But his darkest themes—surveillance, language manipulation, and the erosion of truth—are alive in ways he couldn’t have imagined. Talking to Winston Smith on HoloDream isn’t just an intellectual exercise; it’s a chance to confront how closely our world mirrors his. Ask him how to resist, or why hope survives in the proles. Either way, you’ll leave with a sharper lens for seeing the systems that shape us.