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[[Category:NGOs]]
The Argus Society is an association of [[Public Eyes]] with
worldwide membership. It acts as an independent observer, watching
the activities of governments, large corporations, and other powerful
institutions worldwide.

The Argus Society was founded by Marien Smith in the early
2040s. Smith was an American political activist. She believed that
news outlets and other media were effectively corrupt, serving the
interests of the government or of large media corporations rather than
of the people. She conceived of the Argus Society as a tool for uncovering
inconvenient information, secrets and half-secrets that powerful
institutions would prefer to conceal.

During the turbulent years of the Transhuman Awakening, the
Argus Society made a considerable (but mixed) reputation for itself.
Naturally, governments and the establishment media frowned on
Argus activities, but the Society was favored by
populists and radicals of all stripes. Aside from
its anti-establishment bias, the Society had no
specific ideology. National military secrets, the
corruption of government officials, corporate
violations of environmental law, the hypocrisy
of leading Preservationists, or the horrific
results of unbridled genetic experimentation –
all were subject to the eyes of Argus.

The Argus Society still exists, although it
has split into factions in recent years. Some of
its members have gone beyond radicalism, pursuing
strange conspiracy theories and regarding
even other Society factions as untrustworthy.
Others have become almost mainstream, providing
information to a consistent audience
much like any other media outlet.

The Society is probably the world’s most prominent example of a
“network polity”. It has a very loose and decentralized organization,
with members all over the world. Members rarely use the best
available information-gathering technology. As private citizens, they
buy whatever equipment they can afford (although some of them can
afford a great deal). They normally operate independently, gathering
into teams only occasionally and on an informal basis. The Society has
no formal hierarchy of rank, although members can accumulate status
by “counting coup” on powerful institutions.