On the whole, politicians care deeply about how they are portrayed on television news and in newspaper columns. They worry about snarky cartoonists and satirists who pick apart their words and deeds. But they don’t care much about how they come across in video games, which are viewed as shallow stuff for kids.

As games become more powerful mediums of expression, that state of affairs is likely to change, albeit slowly.

Last month, every politician in Canada’s parliament received a free copy of the game Orwell: Ignorance is Strength, which addresses issues of freedom and surveillance, by allowing the player to take on the role of a government cyber spy.

The recently released Windows PC game was sent by an organization called Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE). It was provided for free by developer Osmosis and publisher Surprise Attack.

CJFE’s aim is to highlight concerns with sweeping new cybersecurity legislation Bill C-59, which grants the Canadian authorities broad powers to monitor its citizens and conduct aggressive cyber operations, with some provisos that allow for government oversight.

Although the bill is being presented as an overhaul of a much maligned system introduced by previous governments, it has raised alarms among some commentators and civil liberties organizations, including CJFE. The bill is currently under consideration.

“Bill C-59 proposes new offensive hacking and data collection powers for the Communications Security Establishment (CSE),” said CJFE’s communications head Kevin Metcalf in an email. “We believe that these powers present a clear threat to Canadian Charter rights, including rights to free expression and press freedom.”

The people in charge are very much playing games with our rights, we wanted to flip the script on that.

Metcalf added that games like Orwell will play a greater role in high level political persuasion. “In a world where Cambridge Analytica and election meddling are dominating the headlines, it is refreshing to see such a unique and narrative approach, which doesn’t just communicate that a problem exists, but shows in granular detail how the problem is perpetuated, exploited and how it can be used to promote a dangerous agenda. The people in charge are very much playing games with our rights, we wanted to flip the script on that.”

So far, CJFE has received a number of auto-responses from politicians as well as one “polite” acceptance note, explaining that games are not allowed to be installed on government computers.

“It wasn’t explicit, but the tone of that email seemed to dismiss the medium out of hand. Maybe it’s a generational thing,” Metcalf said. “We fully understand the need to maintain secure digital systems for Government, but there’s nothing stopping these folks from installing the product on a personal device.”

In a few weeks time, CJFE will check in on how many of the codes have been activated.

“We hope that politicians play Orwell and learn something,” explained Metcalf. “Our hope isn’t that playing a game will trigger a sudden crisis of conscience, leading to the wholesale amendment of the proposed laws we’re challenging. I mean, that would be great, but we anticipate that this project will have a more subtle effect.

“We want to normalize an understanding of digital surveillance and its pitfalls, as well as move the window of acceptable political discourse in a way which encourages politicians to speak up against new and expanded surveillance and data interception powers, or at the very least, to question them.”

To some extent, the experiment is a matter of publicity.

“We also hope that people reading about this actually purchase the game, play it and form their own opinions about surveillance, privacy and fake news,” Metcalf said.

Orwell: Ignorance is Strength is the second game in a series that confronts digital surveillance. It gives the player powers to intrude on the privacy of citizens, in an attempt to resolve state crises. Players tap into personal correspondence, movements, social media histories and medical records of targets. They can also plant fake news stories.

Producer Daniel Marx said the game is designed to challenge players’ ideas about state surveillance techniques.

“While we make games with the primary goal to be entertaining, we also have the ambition to make people consider the world around them through the experience,” he said. “Orwell: Ignorance is Strength and its predecessor try to offer many-faceted views on digital surveillance, freedom of expression and misinformation and what could be the ultimate consequence of an ever-lowered bar for security measures, while not completely disregarding the need for safety in modern society.”

There will doubtless be an increased drive to engage with games makers.

The CJFE initiative was organized through publisher Surprise Attack. Managing director Chris Wright said, “When [CJFE] approached us about getting the game in front of the Canadian Parliament and the Senate, both Surprise Attack and Osmotic Studios agreed it would be a great vehicle to showcase the power of games in a way that expands thought-provoking conversation that otherwise may not exist.”

Metcalf believes games will play a greater role in political discourse, as politicians begin to understand their power, and as a new generation of game-savvy leaders come to power.

“While a lot of games contain very sophisticated political and social critiques, politicians are only now becoming aware of how people are engaging with these mediums,” he said. “As political leaders become aware that games and the communities formed between their players can have a significant influence on those players’ worldviews, and their votes, there will doubtless be an increased drive to engage with games makers, communities and players for political purposes.”