"Big Brother is watching you!"
These chilling words from George Orwell's dystopian work, 1984, are no longer read as fiction but are becoming a grim reality in the United Kingdom and Canada—where digitally dystopian measures are eroding the foundation of liberty in two of the West's oldest democracies.
Under the guise of security and innovation, the United Kingdom and Canada are implementing intrusive tools that undermine privacy, restrict freedom of expression, and encourage a culture of self-censorship. Both countries are exporting their digital control frameworks through the Five Eyes alliance, an intelligence-sharing network between Britain, Canada, the US, Australia, and New Zealand, established during the Cold War.
Simultaneously, their alignment with the United Nations' Agenda 2030—especially SDG 16.9, which calls for universal legal identity by 2030—is reinforcing a global policy for digital IDs, such as the proposed Brit Card in the United Kingdom and Canada's Digital Identity Program, which centralize personal data in central systems under the pretext of "efficiency and inclusion." By pushing extensive digital regulations, such as the UK's Online Safety Act and the Canadian Bill C-8, these states are not merely adopting digital authoritarianism—they are accelerating the West's descent into it.
The United Kingdom's "Digital Net"
The United Kingdom has positioned itself as a global leader in surveillance. The intelligence agency GCHQ has operated the secret mass surveillance program Tempora since 2011, which intercepts and stores vast amounts of global internet and telephone traffic through access to undersea cables. Its existence was revealed in 2013 by the documents leaked by former NSA employee, Edward Snowden. "It's not just an American problem. Britain has a huge role," he said then. "GCHQ is worse than the US."
This was followed by the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) 2016, known as the "Snooper's Charter," which mandates internet providers to store browsing history, emails, messages, and calls for up to one year. State agencies—from the police to MI5, MI6, and GCHQ—can often gain access without a warrant.
More recently, the Online Safety Act (OSA) enables the requirement of "backdoors" in encrypted applications like WhatsApp, allowing the scanning of private messages for vaguely defined "harmful" content—something organizations like Big Brother Watch denounce as a gateway to mass surveillance. The implementation of the OSA was gradual by Ofcom, and by July 2025, it was deemed fully active for its main provisions. Elon Musk's X platform warned that the law jeopardizes freedom of speech, while he himself stated that the real purpose is "suppression of the people." In September, the Imgur platform blocked access from the United Kingdom rather than comply with the OSA.
Another significant step is the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (DUAA), which allows wider data sharing between state agencies and private individuals for AI analytics purposes, raising fears of uncontrolled user profiling. The upcoming Cyber Security and Resilience Bill expands NIS regulations and requires real-time threat reporting and state access to critical systems, while the use of AI-enhanced facial recognition in public spaces intensifies concerns about a biometric surveillance state.
The New York Times reported that the United Kingdom's policies constitute "one of the broadest adoptions of digital surveillance by a Western democracy." Arrests for "offensive" tweets exceed 30 daily, according to The Times.
The Brit Card: The biggest source of outrage
The proposed Brit Card digital identity has caused an enormous backlash. It was presented as a tool against irregular migration, but its use has been expanded to social benefits, banks, and public services. The Tony Blair Institute for Global Change supported this vision.
MPs from different parties, led by independent Rupert Lowe, sent a letter characterizing the compulsory digital ID as "dangerous and deeply un-British." MP David Davis warned that such systems are "deeply dangerous to privacy." By early October, over 2.8 million signatures had been gathered against the proposal. The government announced it would proceed: "We will introduce digital identity within this parliamentary period."
The surveillance explosion in Canada
In Canada, under Prime Minister Mark Carney (former head of the Bank of England and member of the World Economic Forum), corresponding measures have been enacted.
Bill C-2 (June 17, 2025) amends the Customs Act, allowing access to data without a warrant and sharing it with the US through CLOUD Act type agreements.
Bill C-8 (June 18, 2025) amends the Telecommunications Act, allowing the government to issue secret orders to weaken encryption or cut off internet/phone services to individuals, without judicial oversight. MP Matt Strauss likened it to a "digital gulag"! The Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF) argues that basic Charter rights are being violated. Bill C-8 complements the Online Harms Act (Bill C-63) (2024), which collapsed following reactions over the risk of censorship. During the pandemic, the Public Health Agency of Canada admitted it was monitoring 33 million devices—almost the entire population—under the pretext of public health. Canada's Digital Identity Program remains in development, with nationwide implementation projected for 2027–2028.
Orwell's 1984 reminds us that "the price of freedom is eternal vigilance." Resistance is required—before a Western "Great Firewall" is constructed that will monitor every keystroke and thought.
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