, Columnist
China’s Social Credit System Is More Kafka Than Orwell
Scoring citizens’ behaviors can spark dystopian fears. In practice, such programs are often disorganized and unthreatening.
Watch out.
Photographer: Paul Taylor/Vision MediaThis article is for subscribers only.
What if you built a terrifying 21st century surveillance-and-control system and no one cared?
That’s what appears to be happening with China’s social-credit program. The plan gives citizens a credit score similar to those calculated by the likes of Experian Plc, but then adds rewards and penalties for behavior. That means your ability to buy railway tickets and get preferential rates on a loan could be contingent on whether you drop litter, park your car illegally – or even, in theory, criticize the government on social media.