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Internet has made every citizen a'Big Brother': Advani

April 23, 2009 19:13 IST
Speaking through his blog, Bharatiya Janata Party's Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani says that thanks to computers and internet people would watch their rulers more closely than ever before unlike in an Orwellian scenario where a hovering "Big Brother" keeps a track of citizens.

Pledging to fully tap the potential of Information Technology, Advani also claimed that the new IT vision of his party would overcome the current economic crisis, check corruption, make the country's national security robust and accelerate human development.

Advani, 81, who has worked hard at building an image of a tech-savvy politician, has stated in his blog that the IT vision of his party would help the country "overcome the many daunting challenges in socio-economic development."

Advani also referred to 1984, one of George Orwell's brilliant books of fiction, about a totalitarian state controlled by a "Big Brother."

"Central to the success of this despotic state was what we now know as Information Technology. Orwell conceived of an instrument called the telescreen, a wall-sized flat

panel display that could simultaneously send and receive images from every household in the state to a hovering Big Brother," he said.

Advani says this concept of a telescreen was realised in the personal computer. However, the result was contrary to the Orwellian thesis.

"Instead of Big Brother watching every citizen in the state, it is the citizen, who through the PC and internet is able to watch their rulers more closely than ever before," Advani states.

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