OPINIONS
Introducing another form of capitalism: surveillance capitalism
Every click, swipe, and post = $$$ for social media companies The 2020 film The Social Dilemma was not overexaggerating when they said if we are not paying for a product, then we are the product. Like the average 12-year-old in 2019, I begged my parents for a phone. I ...
“L’enfer, c’est les autres”
When surveillance shapes behaviour, we live in Hell We live in a world of cameras and cookies. Everywhere we go, everything we do, want, or think, is tracked. Most of the time, this is to maximise the effectiveness of marketing tactics that push us towards buying the latest unneeded thing. ...
We love Big Brother
From Orwellian fears to a participatory willingness, we have fallen in love with being watched George Orwell’s book, 1984, ends with its protagonist’s submission to the monolithic forces of the surveillance state. It concludes, in chilling simplicity, with Winston’s admission that “he loved Big Brother.” Reading as a middle schooler ...
The modern horror of street photography
Candid street shots meet the eerie gaze of AI Perhaps you’ve seen street photography, a subgenre of photography encompassing a wide variety of even smaller subgenres. Perhaps you’ve seen black and white pictures of people arguing outside a subway station, photographs from protests or pride events worldwide, or from the ...
Your indifference to Surveillance Capitalism matters
It’s what makes it so powerful I used to be overly nonchalant when the subject of our phones listening to us was brought up. In a teenage attempt to sound cool, I would make some unfunny joke like “at least they know what I want,” or claim that I simply ...
The inhumane face of surveillance
How surveillance erodes trust and autonomy in modern society In the twenty-first century, there has been no technological development more insidious than surveillance. A mere 50 years ago, CCTV was still in its infancy and limited to only a few government-owned locations. At the time, one could shop without a ...
Surveillance beyond order maintenance
How surveillance becomes a tool for reifying social hierarchies in Canada The phrase “Orwellian” is often used to describe far-off totalitarian states, or, something resembling the novel 1984 by George Orwell, a science fiction that tackles dystopian societies where one is constantly being watched. However, surveillance occurs in a myriad ...
Books, not bombs
How students can lead the fight to free Palestine, on behalf of UofT Student Strike for Palestine The Pro-Palestine movement at the University of Toronto is alive and well, but for meaningful change to be won, it must continue to grow. The movement we saw spread across the world this ...
Head-to-head with Palestine
A different view of convocation 2024 Convocation, 2024. Hot day. A million degrees. Hundreds packed into a single hall. Gowns touching the floor. Everyone was beautiful in their regalia, girls were adorned with glitter in their hair. Boys were stupidly charming. Parents were floating around with pride. And in the ...
Less is more
Why moderate campaigning is crucial in creating meaningful change This summer we saw the biggest student mobilisation effort in a generation with the encampments in King’s College Circle and beyond. It was a testament to how invested students were that such a united protest came about, but now, a few ...