Digital Business insights: Newspeak

THE US Army has admitted to blocking access to parts of the Guardian website for thousands of defence personnel across the USA.

 

A spokesman said the military was filtering out reports and content relating to government surveillance programs to preserve "network hygiene" and prevent any classified material appearing on unclassified parts of its computer systems.

And all this in a country that has free speech built into its constitution, for what it is worth. Hmm.

Another example.

This is how Director of National Intelligence James Clapper responded in March to a question raised by Senator Ron Wyden.

"Does the NSA collect any type of data at all on millions or hundreds of millions of Americans?"

Clapper testified, "No sir, it does not."

Senator Wyden asked for clarification, and Clapper hedged: "Not wittingly. There are cases where they could inadvertently, perhaps collect, but not wittingly."

Director Clapper later defended this stupendous lie to the Senator as the least untruthful answer possible.

Sounds like Newspeak.

Newspeak is the fictional language in the novel 1984, by George Orwell. It is a language created by the totalitarian state as a tool to limit free thought, and concepts that pose a threat to the regime such as freedom, self- expression, individuality, peace, etc.

Any alternative to the party's view is classified as "thoughtcrime".

Well, I guess a lot of us are now criminals under that definition.

Apparently, recent sales of the novel 1984 on Amazon have risen by 6000 percent. Surprise, surprise.

What is going on in the home of the brave and land of the free?

Not so brave any more. Everybody now needs a gun to protect themselves.

And free?

Well apart from the incredibly large population of unfree Americans in prison - over six million, which is more than were in Stalin's Gulag, there is of course the new surveillance society, which routinely snoops into the phone records of Americans.

And now we see the good ol' USA throwing its considerable weight into chasing and punishing the individual who brought this to everybody's attention - Edward Snowden.

We already know that the USA is the most powerful nation in the world. It has the most powerful military and an extremely strong and resilient economic base. It houses most of the world's leading corporations. It houses most of the world's leading IT companies.

Using that enormous power to openly pursue an individual, foolish or wise enough to expose internal government lies, newspeak and corruption, whilst leaning on everybody and anybody who may possibly get in the way is without any grace, wisdom or common sense.

Of course it isn't really aimed at us. It is for internal consumption. It is the big stick being waved for the American market and public. And especially for US government employees. Dare any other American follow in those footsteps and they can be sure what will happen.

Few Americans believe that they live in a police state of course, but the fact that police have the right to monitor the communications of all its citizens is an indication of something worth consideration.

If it quacks like a duck, walks like a duck and acts like a duck then it's a duck.

The downside of course, and we can all see it only too clearly, is that the "government" of the USA can now reach out through its corporations, its IT companies, its media and its embassies across the world not just to gather intelligence but to lean hard on anybody suspected of telling people about this. And then deny that they did this in the first place.

That doesn't help the business and sales activities of Amazon web services, Google, IBM, HP, Salesforce, Microsoft and so on, all of whom are busy knocking on doors saying "Trust us with your business data and information, we will look after it securely and wisely."

Hmmm. I guess you will.

- John Sheridan, July 2013

* John Sheridan is CEO of Digital Business insights, an organisation based in Brisbane, Australia, which focuses on helping organisations and communities adapt to, and flourish in, the new digital world. He is the author of Connecting the Dots and getting more out of the digital revolution. Digital Business insights has been researching and analysing the digital revolution for more than 12 years and has surveyed more than 50,000 businesses, conducting in-depth case study analysis on more than 350 organisations and digital entrepreneurs.

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