When 1984 Becomes Reality—The Watchful Eye Behind China’s Internet Identity System
文/吕峰 编辑/冯仍 责任编辑/罗志飞 翻译/吕峰
“老大哥正在看着你。”
这是乔治·奥威尔的小说《1984》中的警句，原本意在警示极权统治对人类自由的压迫。这部文学寓言正以令人震惊的方式在现实中上演。
奥威尔曾说：“我并不相信我在书中所描述的社会必定会到来，但我相信某些与之相似的事情很可能发生。” 现实往往比小说更加冷酷无情。他或许预见了极权的幽影，却低估了中国共产党将技术与权力结合的效率与野心。
图为乔治·奥威尔，他写作宣言：揭露谎言、唤起注意
——不是为了艺术，而是为了真相
中共深知“思想是一切事物的根源”。自建政之初，便不断复制‘老大哥’式的治理逻辑，通过户籍制度严控人口流动，限制自由迁徙，在思想领域，发动一轮又一轮的群众运动，鼓励告密、批斗与举报，将人际关系撕裂为赤裸裸的权力网络，彻底摧毁了社会最基本的信任与伦理纽带。“有些中国人，将一无所有。无产、无知、无情、无法、无德、无美，最后都变成无赖，睁着眼睛说瞎话，张着大嘴说屁话，昧着良心说假话。” 这句沉痛的控诉，并非文学上的夸张，而是，极权体制下，灵魂被异化、人性被掏空的真实写照。
进入数字时代，从“天网工程”到社交平台实名制，从人脸识别到行为画像，从“健康码”到“数字足迹”，中国共产党将粗放的人力维稳模式，转型为系统化、自动化的技术极权。如今，《国家网络身份认证公共服务管理办法》正式实施，中国网络空间全面迈入一个由国家统一管理、实名绑定的“数字身份集中制”时代。尽管该制度打着“保护公民身份信息”“促进数字经济发展”的旗号，实质是将每一位用户纳入国家可控的技术系统之中。“实名”不再是可选项，而是通行网络的唯一通道；“匿名”则被视为潜在风险、治理对象。这不仅是一次技术升级，更是对思想空间的深度规训。这让我回忆起高中时期经历过的一件小事。那时候学习压力巨大，许多同学会在课间趴在课桌上补觉。有一次，老师看到前排男女同学在休息，随口笑道：“我看到这个男生和这个女生睡觉了！”教室里瞬间哄堂大笑，我也跟着笑了起来，但我的同位，一个女生，瞪着我说到“这很好笑么？你不觉得对那个女孩子伤害很大么？”那一刻，我突然意识到，当我们不加思索地迎合权威的语气，其实就是在为不公背书。
那个课堂的瞬间，我体会到了独立思考和人云亦云的碰撞。而今天的网络实名制度，就是对整个社会思想自由的系统性压制，让个体逐渐丧失表达的勇气，让独立思考变得危险，直至沉默和随大流成为习惯。
真正的危机，通过掌握信息进行思想意志的改造。在“可能被追踪”的长期心理暗示下，人们学会闭嘴、学会自我审查，甚至主动配合。这正是技术极权最深层的危险：它依靠整套算法机制，塑造一代顺从而沉默的‘数字臣民’。当所有人都被绑定在一个身份证之下，每一次发言都可溯源，每一个“转发”都可能成为“证据”，思想自由便在无声中被窒息。
抵抗这样的系统，并不意味着拒绝一切信息公开，而是要拒绝那些打着‘安全’旗号压缩自由、以‘秩序’之名掩盖审查的治理逻辑。我们必须为匿名权发声，正如联合国人权事务专员办公室在2021年报告中所强调的：匿名性与加密通信，是数字时代言论自由与人格尊严的“防线”，各国政府应加以保护而非摧毁。
也许我们无法立刻改变整个系统，但我们可以选择不成为它的零件。在“老大哥”的注视之下，有人选择沉默，也应有人选择直视。哪怕只是说出一句：“我知道你在看我。”——这就是自由意志尚未灭绝的证明。
When 1984 Becomes Reality
—The Watchful Eye Behind China’s Internet Identity System
By Lyu Feng
Edited by Feng Reng
Chief Editor: Luo Zhifei
Translated by Lyu Feng
Abstract:
China’s real-name internet identity system has transformed the dystopian prophecy of 1984 into reality. Through pervasive technological surveillance, it suppresses freedom of thought and expression. This article calls for the protection of anonymity and the preservation of freedom in digital spaces.
“Big Brother is watching you.”
This iconic warning from George Orwell’s novel 1984 was meant to caution against the oppressive grip of totalitarian regimes on human freedom. Today, this literary allegory is unfolding in reality in a shocking and disturbing manner.
Orwell once said, “I do not believe that the kind of society I describe necessarily will arrive, but I believe that something resembling it could arrive.” Yet reality has proven to be even colder and more ruthless than fiction. While Orwell foresaw the shadow of authoritarianism, he underestimated the Chinese Communist Party’s efficiency and ambition in merging technology with absolute power.
Pictured: George Orwell, whose writing was a declaration — to expose lies and
awaken awareness — not for art, but for truth.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has long understood that “thought is the root of all things.” Since the founding of its regime, it has continuously replicated the governance logic of “Big Brother.” Through the household registration system, it strictly controlled population mobility and restricted freedom of movement. In the ideological realm, it launched one political campaign after another, encouraging informants, public denunciations, and mutual surveillance—tearing apart interpersonal relationships and replacing them with a naked structure of power. The most basic trust and ethical bonds of society were destroyed.
Some have lamented: “Certain Chinese people have been stripped of everything. They are without property, without knowledge, without compassion, without law, without virtue, without beauty—eventually becoming shameless, lying with open eyes, speaking nonsense with wide mouths, and uttering falsehoods without a trace of conscience.”This is not literary exaggeration, but a sobering reflection of how souls are alienated and humanity hollowed out under a totalitarian system.
Now, as we enter the digital age, the CCP has shifted from a manpower-intensive mode of social control to a systematic, automated form of technological totalitarianism. From the “Skynet Project” to real-name requirements on social media, from facial recognition to behavioral profiling, from health codes to digital footprints—the state has constructed a surveillance apparatus far beyond Orwell’s imagination.
With the official implementation of the Regulations on National Network Identity Authentication Public Services, China’s cyberspace has fully stepped into an era of state-managed, identity-bound “Digital Identity Centralization.” Although promoted under the banner of “protecting personal information” and “advancing the digital economy,” its essence lies in incorporating every user into a system fully controllable by the state. “Real-name registration” is no longer an option—it has become the only gateway to the internet. Meanwhile, “anonymity” is treated as a threat, a target of governance and suspicion.
This is not merely a technological upgrade; it is a profound disciplining of the space for thought.
It reminds me of something I experienced in high school. Under enormous academic pressure, many students would rest their heads on their desks during breaks to catch up on sleep. One day, a teacher saw a boy and girl resting at the same desk and joked, “Look! This boy and girl are sleeping together!” The whole classroom burst into laughter. I laughed too—until the girl sitting next to me stared at me and said, “Is that really funny to you? Don’t you think that hurts the girl in front?”
In that moment, I realized that when we laugh along unthinkingly, when we echo the tone of authority without reflection—we are, in fact, endorsing injustice.
That brief classroom moment taught me the clash between independent thinking and blind conformity.
Today’s real-name internet system is a systemic suppression of intellectual freedom. It gradually erodes the courage to speak, makes independent thinking dangerous, until finally, silence and conformity become the default.
The real danger lies not just in surveillance, but in the transformation of consciousness—using control over information to reshape minds and willpower. Under the long-term psychological pressure of “you may be tracked,” people learn to shut up, to self-censor, even to cooperate voluntarily.
This is the most insidious threat of technological authoritarianism:It doesn’t need brute force. It relies on algorithmic systems to shape a generation of obedient, silent digital subjects.
When every person is bound to a single ID number, when every word can be traced, when every “share” might become “evidence”—freedom of thought dies in silence.
To resist such a system is not to reject all transparency, but to reject governance logic that compresses liberty in the name of “safety,” and masks censorship behind calls for “order.”
We must speak up for the right to anonymity. As the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights emphasized in its 2021 report: anonymity and encrypted communications are the “lines of defense” for freedom of expression and human dignity in the digital age. Governments should protect these rights—not destroy them.
We may not be able to change the system overnight. But we can choose not to become its components. Under the gaze of “Big Brother,” some may choose silence—but someone must choose to look back.Even if it’s just to say: “I know you’re watching me.”That, in itself, is proof that free will is not yet extinct.
社交媒体发布内容
“老大哥正在看着你” 不再是小说台词，而是现实警告。
中国的“网络实名制”不仅是技术管理，更是对思想自由的系统性压制。从天网工程到数字足迹，每一次发言都可溯源，每一个转发都可能变成“证据”。
在算法的注视下，人们学会闭嘴、审查自己、甚至主动配合。
实名制不该成为“顺从社会”的制造机。哪怕只能说一句：“我知道你在看我。”这，就是自由的证明。
请为匿名权发声。守住表达的尊严。
#在野党 #1984现实版 #实名制 #思想自由 #数字极权 #反审查
