In these uncertain times, movies such as 1984 and 12 Monkeys are beginning to feel like documentaries. As a result, many are beginning to question the illusion of their freedom. In the 1999 film, The Matrix, the character Morpheus offers the protagonist Neo the choice between taking a blue pill that will restore his experience of reality or a red pill that will reveal its true nature. Here in 2020, Elon Musk urged his 34 million followers to take the red pill.


Those that obliged quickly learned that there are now more CCTV cameras in London than in Beijing. The US government can spy on their browsing history and internet habits without a warrant while remaining quarantined in their home. Further research reveals any opinions that dare to drift from the official narrative are labelled as fake news or disinformation and removed immediately and even as a method of censoring dissent.

As 24-hour rolling news channels attempt to control the narrative and spread fear, are governments really using the moments to increase surveillance powers? Many protesters believe that authorities are taking it a step further by using social distancing to curtail free speech. The further down the rabbit hole you dare to go, the world feels more confusing.

British filmmaker Adam Curtis highlighted in 2014 that this confusion is not an accident and actually a part of a new system of political control called nonlinear warfare. But the vast amounts of data on every member of the global community is now changing the political landscape again.