All the tyrannies of the past were half-hearted and inefficient. Part of the reason for this was that in the past no government had the power to keep its citizens under constant surveillance

By comparison with that existing today, all the tyrannies of the past were half-hearted and inefficient…Part of the reason for this was that in the past no government had the power to keep its citizens under constant surveillance. The invention of print, however, made it easier to manipulate public opinion, and the film and the radio carried the process further.

– George Orwell

1984. Part 2, Chapter 9. Emmanuel Goldstein’s manifesto.

1984 Quotes