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What is social credit score? Fears that Chinese ‘invention’ is making inroads into America rise

China's social credit system is a form of government and business surveillance that provides citizens a 'score' that can limit their ability to take independent actions

Since 2014, China has been working relentlessly to implement a rigorous social credit system that monitors, rewards, and punishes the citizens, depending on how well they conform to government standards. On the other hand, the United States is restrained from imposing social credit criteria on Americans due to its constitutional liberties and representative lawmaking. Now, the sense of relief is in danger as some expert analysts believe that this scrutinous social credit system could come to America, not via governments but the private sector — primarily banks, insurance companies, and tech companies.

Has it already begun? On May 24, 2022, J Michael Evans, president of Chinese e-commerce and technology firm Alibaba, announced at the World Economic Forum (WEF) that their company is developing an "individual carbon footprint tracker." Evans said, "We are developing, through technology, an ability for consumers to measure their own carbon footprint." This program would work to cultivate data on individuals about "where are they traveling, how are they traveling, what are they eating, what are they consuming." Since then, WEF has also talked about companies like Doconomy which has partnered with Mastercard to create a unique credit card that can track the carbon footprint of all your purchases, which includes food and travel, and cuts off your spending when you hit a certain personal emissions limit.

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What is 'social credit score'?

China's social credit system is an extreme amalgamation of government and business surveillance that provides the citizens with a 'score' that can alter their ability to take independent actions. The system can restrict them from taking actions like booking a flight, acquiring property or taking loans, buying a vehicle, and more based on their behaviors and their understanding of the law. 

The scope of these scores is vast. The financial institutions will be responsible for tracking activities like behaviors, spending, and more, and reward the citizens if the score is impressive and if they are compliant with the overall scheme.

On the other hand, the same institutions hold the power to punish the citizens in the form of blocking transactions, adding surcharges, or even restricting the use of products. Lin Jinyue, one of the early theoretical designers of the social credit score system in China, explained the method in a video shared in a tweet, "Lin jinyue (one of early theoretical designers of the social credit score system in china) explains why the whole world should adopt it:it's the best method to keep at bay those annoying people disagreeing with government!"

Fear grows as America could implement China's social credit system

People on the internet are getting worried about the possible implementation of the social credit system in the US that could render an individual helpless when it comes to their own money. One user wrote, "Whilst most people remained distracted by a so called virus your governments were busy bringing about a controlled demolition of the financial system via lockdowns. #WEF #GreatReset."

Another user tweeted, "The banks in the pilot exercise are Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo. In coming months, the Board will provide additional details on how the exercise will be conducted and the scenarios that will be used in the pilot."

One user tweeted, "What we need to do is mobilise & keep insisting on privacy autonomy & freedom. no mandatory id. we should not be fataslistic - its as bad as those that would tell us the only way is from them. We need to assert a counter, the Public keeps elected honest. Insist #together."

Another user tweeted, "If we allow this to happen there will be no turning back and we will officially live in a communist country. I suggest we make sure it doesn’t happen."

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.