China’s Social Credit System, an Orwellian version of Facebook, has a gigantic ambition: it sets out to shape 1.3 billion Chinese into a predictable, reliable and obedient mass, the sort of people the Communist Party wants to lead. It will strengthen sincerity in government affairs, commercial sincerity, social sincerity and the construction of judicial credibility.” Typical civil-service hogwash, but just what politicians want to hear. All this is troublesome, but the Social Credit System is probably more efficient than the tradition of waiting for neighbours or relatives to turn people in. But it’s clear that China’s system amounts to a chilling new threat to civil liberty in a country that was already among the most oppressive in the world. For some, the Social Credit System is making obedience feel desirable.

Source: National Post September 21, 2018 14:15 UTC