Yeah, the way to do a ban is to set a large fine ($5000) and pay a $500 bounty to citizens who report the violator. Neighbours who are annoyed by noisy leafblowers will jump at the chance to collect those bounties.
How is a story about the government dictating the future by controlling information about the past relevant in a discussion about noise complaints? Referencing HOA-level pettiness seems more relevant.
Unless your point was "anything the government does is bad", in which case 1984 is a bad example.
I'm assuming he's referring to sitting up an environment where citizens are incentivized to report other citizens for crimes, leading to reduced trust among everyone.
He could also have referenced 'Papers Please', or any movie about East Germany.
