Imagine, dear reader, that you live in a world where
everyone of your actions (or inactions) is recorded and judged by your peers.
From bad driving, smoking in a non-smoking area, and a failure to visit your
parents/grandparents on a regular basis, all can have an effect on your ‘social
rating’ and thus ‘social credit’. You may be thinking that these can be harmful
to other members of society, but easily rectifiable. However, should one of
these infractions prevent and individual from acquiring social services, transport
(train and plane), prevent you from getting a job, access to the internet, and
many more sanctions that will isolate an individual within modern society[1].
This reality is now being rolled out throughout China (for a more comprehensive
list look at image 1). This step for China has implications for the world and
the Global Economy.
Why does the CCP want
a Social Credit System?
According to the CCP the Social Credit System will be
implemented by 2020 with a focus of keeping trust which is ‘glorious’ and
breaking trust in society as ‘disgraceful’.
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) biggest fear is not
being able to control it’s population, 1.4 billion at the time of writing, and
thus lose control of the governance of the country. This eventuality has caused
the CPC lead government to take drastic steps towards minorities within China[2].
Censorship and economic growth, has been the centrepiece of controlling the
Chinese population, with a decline in economic growth (from as high a 10%
almost a decade ago, to now 6.5%[3])
and censorship only being able to go so far (it cannot cover the entire
population). ‘Self’ and ‘Social’ censorship has now become the order of the day
and the future within Chinese Society.
To clarify this point, an example of this would be Uber. If
you use Uber taxies to travel to a destination, the five star rating for both
the customer and the driver can have an impact on whether 1) you as the
customer gets picked up by the driver and 2) customers can scrutinise drivers
rating and thus deprive them of work or on a more extreme not the driver could
lose his job with Uber.
any rating system has its pros and cons but to have such a
system throughout society severely limits what individual will do, thus
restricting freedom. However, the CCP has taken this to the next level by
placing the rating system, not in their own hands, but that of Chinese citizens
therefore creating an level of control that will be unprecedented in human
history. We as people judge others, its human nature, we cannot help but say ‘I
don’t like what he/she is wearing or saying’ but with the ability to rate
another individual can now have serious consequences for the lives of Chinese
citizens (e.g. depriving an individual from social services). To take human
nature and ‘weaponizes it’ in the way the CCP government is planning to do in
China, not only extends the CCP’s control of Chinese Society but will
ultimately have implications for those outside China.
How does the Social
Credit System in China have implications for the rest of the world?
The first thing the pops into my
mind is corporations (most notably Western corporations) would have to
1) adopt the practices of the social credit system in China and 2) prevent any
western corporation from entering China (or seize the assets of those who are
currently in China) if they do not comply with the Social Credit System. We
have already seen this with the tech-giant Google, who recently announced they
will be taking on the role of censor when operating in China[4]
(in order for the search engine to have access to Chinese customers).
The second implication for the world could be a ‘trickle
down’ affect that influences Western Corporations. Corporations could adopt
similar methods in their home countries. For instance, Elon Musk plans to create
a website that will ‘rate’ journalists[5],
thus giving corporation and their owners greater influence in what we consume,
read, and watch. This in my opinion is already the case and thus limits the
individual to make rational choices in regards to there own utility and thus
reducing the freedom of individual to have access to a plethora of consumer
goods or media content (if the good or media content is classed as
‘untrustworthy’ it could be in danger of being taken out of circulation or
removed from media sites). We should ask ourselves do we really need
corporations to tell us what we want or what is best for us?
China’s Social Credit System has an Orwellian overtones to
it, which has already started to become the norm for Western Corporations[6]
[1] The Independent, China ranks citizens
with a social credit system - here's what you can do wrong and how you can be
punished: https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/china-social-credit-system-punishments-rewards-explained-a8297486.html
[2] The Geopolitics, Vatican and China Deal:
Microcosm of Control: https://thegeopolitics.com/vatican-and-china-deal-a-microcosm-of-control/
[3] The World Bank, The World Bank in China:
Overview: https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/china/overview#1
[4] Foreign Policy, Google is Handing the
Future of the Internet to China: https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/09/10/google-is-handing-the-future-of-the-internet-to-china/
Silicon,
Apple Removes Thousands of Apps from China App Store: https://www.silicon.co.uk/mobility/mobile-apps/apple-removes-apps-china-store-236141
[5] CNBC, Elon Musk may actually be making a
website to rate journalists for credibility and ‘core trust’, https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/25/elon-musk-may-actually-be-making-a-website-to-rate-journalists-for-credibility-and-core-truth.html
[6] Verdict, Facebook rating score has
echoes of China Social Credit System: https://www.verdict.co.uk/facebook-rating-score-china-social-credit/
