In 2014, China introduced the Social Credit System, a ranking and surveillance mechanism used to determine what people are allowed to do, and where they rank in society

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According to the Chinese government, the social credit system is meant to remind citizens that "keeping trust is glorious and breaking trust is disgraceful", and that "those who lose credibility will find it hard to make a tiny step in society"

How the system works is by monitoring the behaviour of individuals, businesses, and social interactions. Each of these entities and instances is then given a social credit score - rewarding those with high ratings and punishing those with poor scores...

So, because of Google & social media, many of us, knowingly or not, are being monitored 24/7: what we buy off and online; our location at any time; who our friends are and how we interact with them; how many hours we spend on the internet; and what our spending patterns are...

However, the Chinese are taking this concept a step further by now rating these activities as positive or negative. These activities are then refined and converted into a single number - a Citizen Score - which then informs everyone what kind of person you are...

Your score is then publicly ranked against that of the entire population and used to determine your eligibility for loans, jobs, travel etc. This may seem similar to the normal credit rating system, except it obviously goes beyond just assessing whether you pay your debts on time

While your normal credit score is only given to businesses with a specific, legitimate purpose, this social credit score is publicly available, meaning anyone can look you up to see "what kind of person you are" before deciding whether they want anything to do with you

Some of the punishments for a low social credit score include being banned from flying or getting on a train, or from purchasing business class tickets. Some Chinese hotels have also banned people with low scores

It's important to note that it doesn't matter whether you have the money to pay for the service or not - if your score is low then you will be denied the service.

Education: you or your children may be prohibited from enrolling at tertiary institutions or even high school for having a low-ranking number

Internet: activity: if you are found to be "behaving badly", perhaps by viewing or downloading questionable material on the internet, perhaps you have a penchant for Bitchute, for instance, which lowers your score, you may have your internet speed throttled

Employment: a low social credit number can mean that you may be denied a job in a big bank, as an executive, or at a state-owned firm. Your business may also be excluded from public procurement projects

Besides not paying debts, here are some activities that lead to a low social credit score:

Walking your dog without putting it on a leash
Jaywalking
Smoking in a non-smoking zone
Cheating in online videogames
Domestic violence complaints

So if you are tracked playing video games, it means you are probably lazy. Your score decreases accordingly. If you buy baby food, you're probably a parent and are likely to be responsible. Your score increases

If you interact with people deemed trustworthy by the system, i.e people with a high score, your score goes up, while spending too much time at groove and taverns will likely damage your social credit score

"Good citizens" - those with verified high scores, sort of like the "verified" badge on Twitter, are celebrated & their pictures displayed outside the town hall. Mediocre citizens might not be able to get on the Gautrain or call an Uber, & might need to take a conventional taxi

Some dating sites allow users to display their scores in order to attract potential partners. Perhaps Tinder will soon require you to show your proof of vaccination card before being allowed to...do whatever is done there

With South Africa introducing a vaccine ID system, which will place restrictions on certain people, it is only a matter of time before this system is fully introduced over here too. We all know which demographic will absolutely love this sort of thing

Sources: https://www.businessinsider.com/china-social-credit-system-punishments-and-rewards-explained-2018-4?IR=T
https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3096090/what-chinas-social-credit-system-and-why-it-controversial
https://medium.com/wonk-bridge/time-to-stop-comparing-chinas-social-credit-to-black-mirror-6e54dc98cec8
https://www.newstatesman.com/world/asia/2018/04/no-china-isn-t-black-mirror-social-credit-scores-are-more-complex-and-sinister
https://bigthink.com/stephen-johnson/a-look-at-chinas-orwellian-plan-to-give-every-citizen-a-social-credit-score
https://www.wired.co.uk/article/chinese-government-social-credit-score-privacy-invasion https://nhglobalpartners.com/chinas-social-credit-system-explained/