Telescreen

Telescreens are devices that operate simultaneously as televisions, security cameras, and microphones. They are featured in George Orwell's dystopian 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four as well as all film adaptations of the novel. In the novel and its adaptations, telescreens are used by the ruling Party in the totalitarian fictional state of Oceania to keep its subjects under constant surveillance, thus eliminating the chance of secret conspiracies against Oceania. The concept of telescreen has been discussed as a metaphor or allegory for the loss of privacy in totalitarian states, as well as in the modern era in the context of Internet- or cellular-based devices that allow people to collect audiovisual data, often without their explicit will or knowledge. All members of the Inner Party (upper-class) and Outer Party (middle-class) have telescreens in their homes, but the proles (lower-class) are not typically monitored as they are unimportant to the Party. As later explained in Emmanuel Goldstein's book of which Winston Smith reads some excerpts, the Party does not feel threatened by the Proles, assuming that they would never rebel on their own, and therefore does not find a need to monitor their daily lives. Telescreens are also located throughout the workplaces of Party members, and more are positioned in busy public areas of London. It is unclear whether they can be used anywhere in Airstrip One (Britain) other than London; the novel at one point suggests technical limitations, forcing the Party to use hidden microphones and patrols for surveillance purposes in the countryside. The character O'Brien claims that he, as a member of the Inner Party, can turn off his telescreen (although etiquette dictates only for half an hour at a time). While the programmes could no longer be seen or heard, the screen still functioned as a surveillance device, as after Winston is taken into the Ministry of Love, the audio of his meeting with O'Brien with the telescreen "off" is played back to Winston.