Han’s book, written in 2013, points to what has become increasingly evident since then. The Transparency Society is a lucid essay on transparency, which is becoming ever more absolute, driven by the forces of information. Han describes this transparency as pornographic rather than erotic, because it breaks down modesty in human relationships. The kind of transparency that is demanded and cultivated stems from the loss of sincerity and trust, and it further reinforces this double loss.
Combined with the drive for immediacy in communication and information, it leads to the marginalisation of conversation, the laborious discovery that leads to knowledge, and storytelling. The quantity of information is confused with the quality of decisions. Transparency undermines the very essence of politics.
Han also warns that citizens are internalising this demand towards others and applying transparency to themselves: they enslave themselves while believing they are free, and voluntarily expose themselves, starting with digital showcases. The global society is moving towards the omnipresent tyranny of Big Brother. Transparency is the new name for a tyranny based on suspicion.
But instead of a single Big Brother, people are becoming a collective Big Brother; they expose themselves obscenely and demand the ability to pry into every corner of others’ existence and behaviour. They become both victims and surveillance agents in a society of control.