THE SOCIAL CREDIT SYSTEM
“The most effective power is that which cannot be seen. This fact, combined with the reduction of the subject to a mere economic “animal laborans” and the deconflictionalisation and depoliticisation of society, is tending towards constructing a framework in which rules and those who decide them can hardly be challenged.”
“Depoliticisation and economic success are the most effective tools for pacifying society and maintaining control over it, and the social credit system goes in this direction.”
From 2013 Rongcheng, Chinese city in the province of Shandong, started experimenting with the ‘social credit’ system, but the aim is to extend it throughout the country by 2023.
In Rongcheng, each citizen is assigned 1,000 initial points, and each score corresponds to a specific letter: AAA to D. The letter ‘A’ (equivalent to 1,000 points) is the basic score and entails access to certain benefits, such as preferential assistance in employment and priority in school enrolment. One can aim to increase one’s score through behaviour considered by the Chinese Communist Party as ‘virtuous’: paying taxes and bills on time, making certain purchases, sharing and spreading party ideas, etc. a long list of behaviours by which the ‘trustworthiness’ and ‘virtuousness’ of citizens is judged. Of course, reporting people whose attitudes are deemed to be improper leads to an increase in one’s score. The benefits for the highest level (AAA, accessible to those with more than 1,050 points) include: higher pension insurance, subsidies for public transport, the possibility of applying for interest-free loans, being able to rent vehicles without having to leave a deposit, requiring fewer documents for travel visas, etc.
One’s score also becomes a symbol of prestige to be displayed online, as it already is on the Baihe website, which already allows its users to publish their score. On the other hand, those who are in a difficult situation and therefore pay their bills, rent or taxes late will inevitably have their points deducted; the same goes for those who do not cross at a pedestrian crossing, who throw paper on the ground, who express political opinions not in line with the party, etc. The list of behaviour deemed ‘immoral’ is very long. Continue reading “The Social Credit System – The New Totalitarian Management in a Technological Key and Social Credit Experimentation has begun in Italy”
