Social Credit System, 2

 
 
 

Vocabulary

detail	recognize	monitor (2)
rank	count (3)	keep in line
scary	cover (2)	subject (3)
sort of	aggregate	spend/spent/spent
choice	right (4)	keep track
rate	so-called	take into account
moral	court (3)	high-profile
habit	remove	fine-tooth comb
display	criticize	outward sign
praise	model (3)	testing ground
retire	ground	dream (3)
debt	jaywalk	respect (2)
errand	founder	lose/lost/lost
score	purchase	innocuous
nappy	indicate	attentive (2)
perks	pilot (2)	plaster (2)
deprive	discount	benefit (2)
shame	principal	name and shame
screen	better off	trustworthy
loan	principle	it’s a matter of principle
honest	condone	considered
instant	blacklist	pay the price (2)
gather	condemn	pay/paid/paid
behave	uncover	to date (2)
profile	big data	defamation
sue	brand (3)	supreme court
ban	minority	private (2)
dare	rule (2)	restriction
role (2)	languish	one kind or another
	hierarchy	a long way to go

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

They’re constantly monitored by facial-recognition cameras, that are able to instantly to put a face to a name.

Now the Chinese are also ranked, given a mark out of a possible nine-hundred-and-fifty (950) points. A score in the seven-hundreds is considered good; around the five-hundred mark is not.

For now, the number is a sort of bad credit rating, keeping track of everyone’s spending habits.

Male Resident, One: “I think being ranked is a good thing. A society has to have rules.”
Male Resident, Two: “It forces us to be well-behaved.
Female Resident, Three: “It may be scary, but we’re used to that here. And anyway, we don’t have a choice.”

But in an effort to keep all of its subjects in line, Beijing is taking the system a step further in 2020. It’s aggregating data gathered by banks, private companies and the state to rate if someone is a good or bad citizen.

Lin Junyue, Founder of China’s Social Credit Theory: “By using the most data possible, the so-called “Big Data”, the system will play an important role in rebuilding a moral society.”

The State will go over every detail of a person’s life with a fine-toothed comb: a financial situation, spending habits, career, even behavior on social media.

Criticizing the government online or displaying outward signs of wealth is a no-no.

On the other hand, praising the Party or giving blood increases your social credit.

Xiao Wen Wang is a model citizen. She lives in Nanjing, a testing ground for social ranking. Married with a child, she has a job in a retirement home, no debts — and she wouldn’t dream of jaywalking.

Xiao Wen Wang, Model Citizen: “As a good citizen, I respect the rules of the road; if I didn’t, I’d lose points on social credit.”

In theory, everything can be taken into account in your social score, even innocuous errands, like supermarket shopping.

When Xiao Wen Wang makes an electronic payment, her purchases tell the State a lot about her: buying cigarettes would count against her; on the other hand, nappies show that she’s an attentive mother. Beer could indicate alcoholism; she’s be better off buying water.

In this pilot city of eight-million people, there are only eighteen-thousand (18,000) model citizens.

For Xiao Wen Wang, there are perks to be had, such as paying half-price for the bus.

Xiao Wen Wang, Model Citizen: “I get discounts for all public services, even at museums. And the library is free for me, thanks to my score.”

A good score brings benefits — but people with low scores lose rights. The cinema names and shames people considered untrustworthy, plastering their names, even their addresses across the screen.

Female Resident, Four: “It’s a matter of principle: those people have to be condemned.”
Female Resident, Five: “Those people aren’t honest; so they have to pay the price.”
Male Resident, Six: “It’s only right to pay your debts. You have to blacklist those that don’t.”

A supreme court has created a blacklist for so-called “bad” citizens . . . those whose ratings have dropped to zero. On it are companies, but also twenty-three (23) million people to date.

Among them is this journalist, Liu Hu. He got a little too close to uncovering corruption among high-profile party members. After being sued for defamation about a story he had written, he was blacklisted.

He only realized when he tried to buy a train ticket, and was told he was banned from traveling.

Liu Hu, Journalist: “That tells me that I’m still on the blacklist.”

Punished because he has been branded “untrustworthy” by the State.

Liu Hu, Journalist: “Once you’re blacklisted, you can no longer get a bank loan, start a business, find an apartment, or even send your children to a private school.”

Liu Hu is among a tiny minority of people who have dared to criticize the system, which some are calling a digital dictatorship.

Liu Hu, Journalist: “I worry, because I think many people like me will be deprived of individual freedom.

And all of us will live with restrictions of one kind or another.”

After our meeting, Liu Hu learned that his name had been removed from the blacklist — but he still has a long way to go, if he doesn’t want to languish at the bottom of the social credit hierarchy.

 

 

Questions

1. The police and authorities in China rely solely on eye-witness accounts and reports by individuals of what they consider wrongdoing. Is this correct or incorrect?

2. What is the social credit system? Describe the social credit system. What is its purpose, according to the government?

3. All Chinese citizens tell the journalist that they hate the system. Is this right or wrong?

4. Is the social crediting system rating based only on surveillance camera inputs of individuals?

5. “Good” and “bad” behaviors in China is the same as in the US and other Western countries. Is this entirely true, mostly true, in the middle, yes and no, it depends, largely false or entirely false?

6. What are the consequences if someone has a high credit rating? What happens when a person has a low credit score?

7. “Liu Hu is among a tiny minority of people who have dared to criticize the system, which some are calling a ‘digital dictatorship’.” What does this mean? What can you infer from this?

 

A. There are surveillance cameras in my city. Yes or no? Where are they?

B. What are the benefits, pros or advantages of surveillances and “Big Data”?

C. Are there their drawbacks, cons or disadvantages?

D. How do your friends, colleagues and neighbors feel about surveillances and “Big Data”?

E. What might happen in the future?

F. Should citizens and governments do anything?