OK. Is it a sensible thought? Did VPNs exist in 1949?

No, it's trite and useless. You don't need to refer to popular literature to talk about authoritarianism, there are plenty of examples in real life.

The internet would be a very quiet place and the publishing industry would go mostly broke if we had that requirement.

Times would definitely be better if people didn't repeat the same endless clichés.

This take is doubleplus good