Does Having Concerns About Digital Surveillance Make You a Conspiracy Theorist?

George Carlin’s observation captures the dynamic better than dystopian fiction does: “You don’t need a formal conspiracy when interests converge. These people went to the same universities and fraternities, they are on the same boards of directors, they’re in the same country clubs. They have like interests. They don’t need to call a meeting — they know what’s good for them.” Surveillance does not require a smoke-filled room. It emerges from convergent interests, predictable incentives, and shared assumptions about how to manage complex populations.

The documented record reinforces this. The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Federal Government Surveillance held hearings in 2025 evaluating government surveillance patterns. The ABA has issued statements on FISA Section 702. The Facebook Files revealed how internal research was sidelined in favor of engagement metrics. None of this is conspiracy theory. It is a public record that informed Christians should engage with sober minds. The trick is to do so without spiraling into either paranoid speculation or naïve dismissal.

Key Takeaways: Documented Concern, Not Paranoia

Scholar: Michael Shermer on “realistic conspiracy theories” as warranted.

Documented Sources: 2025 House Judiciary hearings; ABA on FISA 702; the Facebook Files.

The “So What”: Christians can be sober, informed, and concerned without becoming dystopian or paranoid.

James Spencer, PhD, is a theologian, author, and host of the Thinking Christian podcast, where he writes and speaks on Christian formation, political theology, and technology. He holds a PhD in Theological Studies from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and completed the Institute for Educational Management at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He serves as President of the D.L. Moody Center in Northfield, Massachusetts, as adjunct faculty in Wheaton College’s MA in Leadership program, and as an Associate Research Fellow at the Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology. His writing has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, Christianity.com, and Sojourners. His forthcoming book is Discipleship and Discernment in the Digital Age (InterVarsity Press, Fall 2026). Learn more at jamesgspencer.com.