The question is rather: can they use preestablished structures and machinery or do they need to build it from the ground up. Surveilance also needs work, and its less work if everything is prepared.

my point was more: any liberal social democratic society that subjects itself to every increasing censorship and surveillance will devolve towards totalitarianism.

Can you explain surveillance leads to totalitarianism? It's not obvious to me.

Totalitarianism has been the mode of human governance since prehistory. It's great, effective, and always tempting. The Western world today is the exception, not the rule.

It's also really hard to establish or continue without the surveillance to detect rebellion and corruption.

It makes a big difference, actually. Few regimes go full-on totalitarian right away - it's more common to have a gradual erosion, where they operate within the letter of the law for a while, while gradually diminishing the spirit. So the more the letter allows, the more abuse you'll see from the get go.