George Orwell's Threats To Freedom

“Threats to freedom of speech, writing and action, though often trivial in isolation, are cumulative in their effect and, unless checked, lead to a general disrespect for the rights of the citizen (Orwell).” George Orwell was an outspoken American author, whose most famous work, 1984, showed how a world of surveillance was harmful to not only individual citizens but also society as a whole. If the government was to monitor internet content to a deep extent, such as collecting emails/communications, tracking people’s web history, or restricting what we, the citizens of the US, say, we would move one step closer to the world Orwell imagined in 1984. The United States government has no business in monitoring or restricting internet content, except

If the United States government were to sift through the information they found through monitoring, and they found something they did not like, they may try taking steps to remove the data from the internet. The minute that the government starts to do something like that is the minute that we stop living as American citizens and we start living as citizens of a police state. However, there are some exceptions that can be made. Terrorists and terror groups, most notably ISIS, have begun to put propaganda and promotional materials online for people all around the globe to access. Thus the problem of national security arises and the United States government must do something to stop American citizens from joining some of the most evil and anti-American groups out there. Instead of monitoring all citizens’ internet usage, the US government can only monitor those on no-fly lists or those that have had possible ties to terror in the past. Even then, they should not monitor and restrict everything that they post or look at - possibly only key words or key websites. The aforementioned PEW Research study found that 82% of American citizens found that monitoring terrorists and terrorist suspects is perfectly okay and will uphold the citizens’ best interests. Because the government has their support and permission to do so and since the United States is a democracy, the have the responsibility to monitor terror suspects and uphold the wants and safety of the American people. Freedom of speech was one of the most important amendments that the Founding Fathers included in the Bill of Rights. Americans today hold this right in the highest regards and have there have been many court decisions to uphold freedom in speech in all situations. Whether it be in journalism, like the New York Times vs. United States case, or in other landmark cases, like Gitlow vs. New York,