Grimme Prize 2025: Total Trust about China's dark surveillance technology!

Grimme Prize 2025: Total Trust about China's dark surveillance technology!

On March 6, 2025, the jury decisions for the 61st Grimme Prize were announced. Among the nominated productions, the ZDF/Arte co-production "Total Trust-which China does not show in the world", which got a prize in the competition for information & culture. The ceremonial award ceremony will take place on April 4th in the Marler Theater. This internationally excellent documentary from Jialing Zhang illuminates the dark side of monitoring in China and shows how modern technologies, including big data and artificial intelligence, are used for (self-) censorship and abuse of power, such as ots.at reported.

In "Total Trust", the fates of people in China are illuminated who suffer from the regime. The jury emphasized how urgently Zhang represents the mechanisms of the surveillance state, which continuously controls and punish its citizens. A young journalist and her family who fight for their values ​​and opinions are particularly affected. The film is now available in the ARTE media library and in an alarming way shows the dangers of current technology, while the worldwide market of surveillance technologies is growing rapidly and is valued at over $ 230 billion until 2027, so total-trust.org .

monitoring technologies in focus

The discussion about the use of surveillance technologies is not limited to China. Similar technologies are encouraged in Europe, especially in France and Germany. In France, the government plans to introduce AI-based video surveillance during the 2024 Olympic Games. In Germany, the use of "crime forecast" software that Big Data uses to create suspicious profiles for resistance from data protectionists who fear that innocent people could be monitored unjustified. These critical glances into European surveillance policy are just as alarming as the grievances in countries outside the EU, where companies like Finfisher have gotten into the headlines with the sale of surveillance technologies without permission.

In addition, there is a scandal about discriminatory AI tools in the Netherlands, which have particularly targeted migrants. These incidents call according to the EU AI Act to protect human rights. In the United Kingdom, too, there are efforts to introduce stricter control over meetings, which leads to concerns about individual freedoms. The global developments show that the protection of privacy and human rights are still on the brink.