1984 Today!

A podcast exploring dystopian trends in society.
Occasionally funny, often worrying, rarely mistaken.

[1984 Today! @1984Todaypod]

🚨New episode out now!🚨

@lenivonmayn joins for a fun conversation about being the Voice Queen at Berlin's @cybrothel and a mindful s*xuality coach - butter your ears with the goodness!

https://t.co/8ZRbib01Ps

[Naomi Brockwell priv/acc @naomibrockwell]

The government can buy your personal data, track where you go, and access your financial records, no warrant required.
Not long ago, that was illegal.
So what changed? Our new video breaks it down.

[Silkie Carlo @silkiecarlo]

🚨I’ve written to urge @Apple to drop the age/ID check demand on the new iOS, which just child-locked tens of millions of phones in the UK.

It’s extraordinary censorship, an invasion of privacy + chokehold on access to information.

You can read it here: https://t.co/dGM5GWc98Q

[Big Brother Watch @BigBrotherWatch]

👁️No ID, no full & free internet access

Apple's adult users in the UK are being forced to either submit to intrusive ID checks or have child-locked phones

This is part of a wider issue.

Our director @silkiecarlo explains what this means for our rights & freedoms online⤵️

[1984 Today! @1984Todaypod]

The March Weird is out now!
🇮🇷Iran makes propaganda out of Lego
🪙Alibaba's AI agent jailbreaks, mines crypto
🕵️Brits spy for China
🌭Hot dog search poison
🤖AI "Agents of Chaos"
🐶Doorbells find dogs
🎸Trump sings
➕And more!

🔍Link in pic🔍

Come visit!

[Mullvad.net @mullvadnet]

The United Kingdom is escalating its censorship and mass surveillance. When Mullvad tried to criticise this with the TV ad “And Then?”, it was banned on British television.

[Together @Togetherdec]

What could possibly go wrong?

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

🚨 HAMIT COSKUN HAS WON HIS CASE IN THE HIGH COURT

This is a humiliating defeat for the Crown Prosecution Service. The Director of Public Prosecutions, Stephen Parkinson, must now resign.

Hamit Coskun was convicted of a religiously aggravated public order offence after burning a copy of the Quran outside the Turkish Consulate — a one-man protest against the Islamification of his home country.

Meanwhile, the religious fanatic who violently attacked him with a large knife was spared jail.

Hamit’s conviction was overturned last October by Mr Justice Bennathan, who ruled that while many Muslims would have found Mr Coskun’s actions offensive, freedom of expression “must include the right to express views that offend, shock or disturb”.

The CPS tried to appeal that judgment — and lost spectacularly. If they had won, they would have introduced a Muslim blasphemy law via the back door. It would also have given the green light to religious fanatics to violently enforce an Islamic blasphemy code on the streets of Britain.

Before today’s judgment, Hamit warned he would have no option but to flee to the US. The Trump administration had also made it known they would be willing to offer him political asylum.

General Secretary of the Free Speech Union, Lord Young of Acton, has said: “This appeal should never have been brought by the Crown Prosecution Service, just as Hamit should never have been prosecuted.

“We have not had blasphemy laws in this country for 18 years and for that reason, this prosecution was bound to fail.

“Yet the CPS has spent hundreds of thousands of pounds trying to bring one back via the back door – and one that just enforces Muslim blasphemy codes, not Christian ones.

“In light of this humiliating defeat, I think the director of public prosecutions has no choice but to resign.”

Parliament voted to abolish blasphemy laws 18 years ago. There is no such thing as a blasphemy offence in English law.

Yet, since Keir Starmer became Prime Minister, three men have been prosecuted for burning copies of the Quran. The Free Speech Union has represented all three.

Despite our victory in Hamit’s case, the CPS is still prosecuting another FSU member — Martin Frost.

On 1 February 2025, Martin Frost set fire to a copy of the Quran in Manchester city centre. Police quickly arrived. He told officers he was demonstrating solidarity with Salwan Momika, an anti-Islam activist in Sweden who was murdered after burning a Quran.

Like Hamit, Martin was charged under the Public Order Act 1986.

Today, the High Court was clear: public order laws cannot be twisted to reintroduce blasphemy by the back door.

Help us defend the right to criticise religion in this country — and stop the CPS from introducing a Muslim blasphemy law via the back door — by donating to the crowdfunder below 👇

[Preston Byrne @prestonjbyrne]

Ofcom wrote today, harassing 4chan again about the fine for engaging in perfectly lawful conduct in the US.

We replied with a hamster.

When Ofcom wants to get serious and have a merits discussion about their powers, they can show up in a US court as a plaintiff.

[Mullvad.net @mullvadnet]

Today, the final negotiations on Chat Control 2.0 begin between the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Council of the EU.

Although the requirement for mandatory scanning (including end-to-end encrypted messaging services) has been removed, several problematic elements remain in the Council's position. For instance, the Council wants to demand identity verification to use messaging services (including end-to-end encrypted). This would pose significant risks to dissidents, whistleblowers, and others, and create a chilling effect on free speech.

We hope the European Parliament stands firm against any wording that paves the way for mass surveillance and censorship. Cyprus, currently holding the Presidency of the Council of the EU, aims to conclude the negotiations by June.

A reminder of the corrupt backstory behind the Chat Control proposal and the involvement of Ashton Kutcher and his company Thorn: https://t.co/OcNkJMrjJa

[PC Gamer @pcgamer]

A new California law says all operating systems, including Linux, need to have some form of age verification at account setup https://t.co/9qPq8EhtO4

[1984 Today! @1984Todaypod]

Read it at https://t.co/CrN79JgWAD

[1984 Today! @1984Todaypod]

The new Weird is out now:

Robo-dog kicked out of India’s AI Impact summit!
Anthropic’s standoff with Trump’s Department of War!
Britain’s Panopticon takes shape!
Iran’s internet blackout!
Secret surveillance cameras on California’s border roads!

Read all about it 👇

[Big Brother Watch @BigBrotherWatch]

👁️Home Secretary: "My ultimate vision was to achieve...a panopticon" where “the eyes of the state can be on you at all times.”

George Orwell: 1984 was a warning, not a manual

Here's why you should worry about the Government's plans for mass facial recognition expansion ⤵️

[Tuta @TutaPrivacy]

Age verification is spreading like cancer.

First they came for adults site and social media; now they are already discussing about putting VPNs and app stores behind #AgeVerfication 🇬🇧🇦🇺

What’s sold as “online safety” means #surveillance via IDs checks or face scans.

Privacy & anonymity protect journalists, whistleblowers & activists.

We must fight against age verification - or the free web dies!

👉 More: https://t.co/xov9sUcmqy

[Nico Lagan @RealNicoLagan]

The TRUTH behind digital IDs

Digital IDs are coming but first, they need to pass surveillance and censorship bills C-2, C-8, C-9, C-12, C-16 and the new C-63 that is coming in the new year.

It’s already happening in the UK…

So while people are too busy arguing about the political left vs right, this is what’s really happening everywhere in the world.

This is no longer science fiction; this is our future if we don’t wake up…

Video credit: @wideawake_media

[Naomi Brockwell priv/acc @naomibrockwell]

The apps on your phone can see each other.
Do you really want your bank to know which crypto apps you have installed?
Or some government app to know which political apps you have?
Here's how to silo apps across profiles, so that these apps can't see or talk to each other.

[The Free Speech Union @SpeechUnion]

In 2025, the Free Speech Union handled 211 cases in which people got into trouble — either with their employer or the police — for words said on social media.

Police forces across the country have adopted an increasingly overzealous approach to monitoring social media posts.

Let’s take a look at some of the cases below 👇

🧵

[Big Brother Watch @BigBrotherWatch]

🚨 BREAKING 🚨

Newborn babies could be given Digital ID under secretive cradle-to-grave surveillance plans.

The disturbing prospect of digital IDs for newborn babies shows this was never about right-to-work checks, immigration or “choice”.

We must stop this #No2DigitalID

[Rupert Lowe MP @RupertLowe10]

The Cabinet Office is refusing to say whether the internal Digital ID job role we leaked is real or not.

It's real.

And we have more evidence from our whistleblower that we will soon be releasing...

Digital ID is coming, and we all need to come together in order to fight it.

[Ludlow Institute @LudlowInstitute]

We declare 2026 the Year of Privacy.

Our fight is against the hijacking of tech to strip away privacy & dignity.
We assert our right to live without the oppressive gaze of surveillance.
This coming year, many more will join our fight.
Let's go.

https://t.co/v7j3eXxWRy