Fanatics of the Black Mirror series on Netflix have already been acquainted with the idea in 2016 in an episode called ‘Nosedive’. In this episode, the main character Lacie lives in a dystopian world where one’s social standing is being ranked by the data collection of one’s behavior towards others. (Vincent, 2017) Better interactions lead to a higher rating, while bad ones lead to a lower rating. A lower rating results in less opportunities and vice versa, which for Lacie means no longer being able to fly or rent a luxury apartment. (Connick, 2018)
This may sound as a radical (and maybe even terrifying) idea, however this is becoming more of a reality than fiction. China is currently trialing their Social Credit System (SCS), which is planned to be launched and thus mandatory for every citizen in 2020. Two Chinese data giants, which are affiliates of WeChat and Alibaba, are running projects to develop algorithms for these social credit scores. Data is collected from China’s 1.3 billion residents and turned into an individual score between 350 and 900. Citizens are scored based on five factors (Botsman, 2017):
1. Credit history (e.g. are bills being paid on time?)
2. Fulfilment capacity (someone’s ability to fulfil his/her contract obligations)
3. Personal characteristics (an individual’s address and phone number)
4. Behavior and preference (e.g. one’s shopping habits such as buying many video games)
5. Interpersonal relationships (one’s online social contacts and positive vibe in messages and posts)
Especially the fourth and fifth factor are controversial, as this may result in a forced change of behavior of individuals. One’s shopping habits will purposely change, and friends with lower scores will be ignored more often. As this may seem like Big Brother getting out of control, the Chinese government’s arguments for this system are that “the SCS is a way to measure and enhance ‘trust’ nationwide and to build a culture of ‘sincerity’”. (Botsman, 2017)
As of now, it is still only China who is trialing this idea, but in an increasingly globalized society one should never rule out the idea of a worldwide system like this. We are already ranking companies such as restaurants and hotels based on their performance and contact with their customers. Moreover, due to social media, one’s popularity and personal image is also being heavily decided upon their Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram page. In a certain way, a natural social ranking system is already an ongoing phenomenon. Therefore, the idea of a government controlled social credit system for individuals might not be that strange after all?
Reference list
Vincent, Alice. (2017). “Black Mirror is coming true in China, where your ‘rating’ affects your home, transport and social circle”. The Telegraph.
Connick, Tom. (2018). “Black Mirror’s ‘Nosedive’ episode is about to become reality in China”. NME.
Botsman, Rachel. (2017). “Big data meets Big Brother as China moves to rate its citizens”. Wired.
