The “thought police” in George Orwell’s dystopian novel, 1984, had the ability to constantly peer into communications between citizens. Nothing could be kept private, there was no such ideal as freedom of communication. The NSA’s secret programs that Edward Snowden revealed to the American public in 2013, uncover the startling fact that American society is moving towards one like 1984. To prevent the American people from blindly falling victim to the government spying on them, Snowden had to exhibit peaceful resistance through the means of sharing knowledge. Resistance promotes a free society because for a society to be truly free, information must not be withheld, and the thoughts of private citizens must be free from the “thought police”