Social Credit System

    The idea of social credit is being used today in different communities across the world. Social credit is a system that is meant to keep tabs on a population. It can currently be seen in China. The way China uses this system is that they have technology survelling its citizens and companies. With this survellance they use the actions done by people to determine their social credit score. When your social credit score drops then you have certain privileges taken away, and restraints set upon you. It can measure from slower internet speeds to less freedom on the internet, to even getting put on no-fly lists. 

    This system when talked about hypothetically sounds like it promotes national well-being and a high moral standard. When you actually apply and use this system you get quite a different result. In most cases we see the government overstep and become far too involved in the personal lives of its citizens. We see the Chinese government use this tool to restrict free thought and individualism. They say that they are promoting good morals for its citizens but they have no right to dictate and control what little freedom the Chinese people already have. We have confirmed mild punishments for the people who lose social credit but what about the people we do not hear about? Would it be too strange to think that the government uses social credit as a way to find threats to their totalitarian regime? Maybe they are using it to find the people they need to silence. With nobody keeping this system in check the people controlling the system are unstoppable from inside China. They can do whatever they want with no repercussions because anybody that speaks up against the abuse they experience will lose their precious social credit and potentially be silenced one way or another by the people in charge of the system. 

    Another example of social credit being used today is in Canada. With the truck protests being shut down, Canada is showing quite a tyrannical side. These protests have been, for the vast majority, peaceful. You would not think of any physical, or financial punishment for a peaceful, non-violent series of protests. However, the Canadian government has been quite aggressive with its handling of the situation. We have seen videos of people getting trampled by horses, and police using unnecessary force on non-violent protestors. Where we see the use of social credit come in is with financial punishments. Canada is in the process of punishing peaceful protestors by freezing and limiting their personal financial accounts. They have been finding the names and faces of the protestors in order to stop them from being able to access their own personal accounts. This is a more publicized version of what China has been doing. They are threatening their citizens with punishments for simply trying to be free thinkers and voice their opinions. This is the use that social credit has ad throughout history. It has been manipulated by corrupt officials in order to silence and locate people who are expressing ideas they do not agree with.

The basics on Chinese social credit

Pros and cons of Chinese social credit