Orwell Or Obama?

The Guardian revealed Wednesday that the NSA has been collecting Verizon customers’ phone records. George Orwell’s 1984 was published 64 years ago this week.

posted on June 6, 2013 at 3:38pm EDT

Heben Nigatu BuzzFeed Staff


  1. 1. "Telephony metadata"







    1. Another word for the information the Orwellian government is secretly collecting from its citizens’ phone records.






    1. Another word for the information the Obama administration is secretly collecting from its citizens’ phone records.




  1. 2. "Teledep"


    1. The department in Orwell’s “1984” that is in charge of re-writing history through media.
    2. The department in the Obama administration that is responsible for getting intelligence from telephone calls.

  2. 3. "The Custodian of Records"


    1. The figure in Orwell’s “1984” in charge of cleaning up all media to erase any hint of government wrong doing.
    2. The figure in the Obama administration who provides electronic phone records to the National Security Agency.

  3. 4. "Data-mining"


    1. The Orwellian practice of searching citizens’ data for national security.
    2. The Obama administration searching through its citizens’ data for national security.

  4. 5. "Newspeak"


    1. The propagandist language of the Orwellian universe marked by euphemism, circumlocution, and the inversion of customary meanings.
    2. The propagandist language of the Obama administration marked by euphemism, circumlocution, and the inversion of customary meanings.

  5. 6. "Upsub"


    1. The Orwellian practice of getting authorization from superiors (frequently to change things to conform to party line).
    2. The practice of getting authorization from superiors (frequently to change things to conform to party line).

  6. 7. "Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court"


    1. The “secret” court in the Orwellian government in charge of surveillance initiatives that are deemed important to national security and intelligence.
    2. The “secret” court in the Obama administration in charge of surveillance warrants for things that are deemed important to national security and intelligence.

  7. 8. "Malreported"


    1. An adjective to describe the Orwellian practice of dismissing journalist facts as untrue and never admitting the government is wrong.
    2. An adjective to describe the Obama administration’s practice of dismissing journalist facts as untrue and never admitting the government is wrong.

  8. 9. "Pornosec"


    1. A division of the Orwellian government in charge of producing pornographic content to distract the masses.
    2. A secret division of the Obama administration in charge of monitoring your data for terrorist communication disguised as pornographic content.

  9. 10. "Doublethink"


    1. A policy of psychological manipulation in the Orwellian universe that is rooted in being able to hold contradicting ideas at the same time.
    2. A policy of psychological manipulation in the Obama administration wherein prominent figures say and do contradictory things.

  10. Wrong! Orwell
  11. While the NSA chief said “‘We’re the only ones not spying on the American people” two weeks ago, there is no word on this kind of practice being official Obama policy.


    http://www.buzzfeed.com/hnigatu/orwell-or-obama