The future orwell predicted is now here.
If you’re my friend then take this as yet ANOTHER warning and a “I TOLD YOU SO” for all the people who say freedom should be exchanged for the promise of security. Well have you ever smoked in public, bought too many video games, jaywalked? If you are a offender of these common actions then NEVER go to china! TWO words, “SOCIAL CREDIT”!
Before I explain why china is a 1984 esque example I’ll start with the signs that led up to the orwellian undertones of “social credits”. Two apps dominate the market and they are “Alipay” and “WeChat Pay” (pictured above).
One of the most high-profile projects is by Sesame Credit, the financial wing of Alibaba. With 400 million users, Alibaba is the world’s biggest online shopping platform. It’s using its unique database of consumer information to compile individual “social credit” scores.
Users are encouraged to flaunt their good credit scores to friends, and even potential mates. China’s biggest matchmaking service, Baihe, has teamed up with Sesame to promote clients with good credit scores, giving them prominent spots on the company’s website.
“A person’s appearance is very important,” explains Baihe’s vice-president, Zhuan Yirong. “But it’s more important to be able make a living. Your partner’s fortune guarantees a comfortable life.”
The bbc writes , “Details on the inner workings of the system are vague, though it is clear that each citizen and Chinese organisation will be rated. A long list of people in certain professions will face particular scrutiny, including teachers, accountants, journalists and medical doctors. The special list even includes veterinarians and tour guides.
A national database will merge a wide variety of information on every citizen, assessing whether taxes and traffic tickets have been paid, whether academic degrees have been rightly earned and even, it seems, whether females have been instructed to take birth control.
Critics say the social credit system is “nightmarish” and “Orwellian”. However, some believe that some kind of credit system is badly needed in China.
“Many people don’t own houses, cars or credit cards in China, so that kind of information isn’t available to measure,” explains Wen Quan, a blogger who writes about technology and finance.
“The central bank has the financial data from 800 million people, but only 320 million have a traditional credit history.” bbc.com
Gaining popularity but not yet dominate , pay with your electronic device has taken over in china. People are purchasing everything from gas to groceries and everthing else with these 2 apps from their phones. You can pay for parking , health insurance, literally everything. The apps require pretty much all of your information, including and not limited to , license numbers, national i.d., car license plates, addresses, etc. These apps are not just for paying for things but also they’re simultaneously a SOCIAL MEDIA platform. The KICKER IS that the way you live is connected through the social platform and LITERALLY AFFECTS your REAL LIFE!
Smoke a cigarette in a non smoking area, YOU LOSE SOCIAL CREDITS and you may lose the ability to visit this business or area anymore! Jay walk, spend too little or too much and you could LOSE social credits and it will literally prevent you from renting homes, travelling, and even getting jobs! You literally have real life consequences in real time from your social media credit scores. You get enough down votes and living may become filled with hurdles. All users data are compiled and maintained on a digital list.
Journalist Liu Hu is one of the people living in the system. He was interviewed by cbs news and this was the transcript from the interview .
” He[liu hu] recently tried to book a flight but was told he couldn’t because he was on the list of untrustworthy people.
“I can’t buy property, my child can’t go to a private school,” he said. “You feel you’re being controlled by the list all the time.” cbs.com
The fear is that the government will use the social credit scoring system to punish people who are not sufficiently loyal to the communist party, and trying to clear your name or fight your score is nearly impossible since there is no real due process.”
The system is voluntary now but will be mandatory by 2020 and as of today over 15 million people are BANNED from flying due to their social credit score.
The chinese government has hundreds of thousands of street cameras with plans of more by 2020. They TRACK EVERYONE with facial recognition in REAL TIME with LIVE ANALYTICS!!!!!!! Like i said earlier in the article about jaywalking. Like in this picture below:
You could be walking across the street and the cameras with track you and then post the video on nearby screens for everyone to scoff at you!! (check out screenshots from “sensetime” of the real life examples of the system in action)
Cbs news reports,
“Chinese technology firms such as SenseTime are helping the government effort by developing advanced cameras that use artificial intelligence to track just about everything.
“We can tell whether it is an adult, a child, male or female,” said one executive with the company.
Police in Beijing have been seen wearing glasses that can recognize faces linked to the government’s national database, boosting arrests. Wu Fei is CEO of a company that makes the glasses, and he claims he doesn’t know how the government intends to use it.
“I have no idea,” he said.
We asked if he trusts the government with the way they’re using the technology. “Sorry, I can’t answer this,” he responded.
The fear is that the government will use the social credit scoring system to punish people who are not sufficiently loyal to the communist party, and trying to clear your name or fight your score is nearly impossible since there is no real due process.”
If you have kept up at all with china and their politics then you’d know this is nothing extraordinarily far fetched for them. The citizens have been restricted for years on everything. Their internet is highly restricted and is missing most of everything that the free world gets to enjoy. It was recently a small victory that the movie V for vendetta was just now allowed to be watched for the chinese citizens and an explosion of the “guy fawkes” mask was littered all over the internet and government approved social media sites in china. The citizens felt some sort of power and used the mask as their profile pictures.
Facebook, twitter, and snapchat are all banned. Gambling has been illegal since 1949 and advertising of casinos located in other countries are not allowed. In 2010, The Communist Party’s Military Commission came out with a large set of Internet regulations. These strict rules ban online dating or seeking romantic partners, friends, or jobs through online media. Military people cannot go online in a local café, and they cannot open websites, homepages, or blogs. These restrictions were put in place to prevent people from leaking military secrets. The Chinese Communist Party is worried a dainty little flower could ruin their whole operation. After the “Jasmine Revolution” in Tunisia in 2011, the government has blocked anything to do with the flower. You cannot sell it, hold it, sing about it, or even say it.
So as you may or may not see, china is definitely a model that any power and control hungry dictator would love to accomplish as a leader of people. But as a free society such as the united states I’d hope we would expect nothing like this. Unfortunately we have in way already let our freedom of ourselves go. With the NDAA and patriot act that allow warrantless and indefinite detainment and captures of u.s. citizens and as NSA whistle blower edward snowden leaked how the NSA has been spying on u.s. citizens phone calls, emails, and internet usage since at least 1995. Now days with the fuss over net neutrality and the facebook scandals of privacy leaks and data handling, the u.s. may be well on its way to the chinese orwellian dystopia. Until then, we will either do something to prevent or do as the usual state supporter say ” THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN HERE” and pretend our government won’t do what us freethinkers have ALREADY proven the government is doing and has done.
remember big brother is watching.