2.2 Crores Chinese Citizens Might Be Under Punishment When The Social Rating System Comes Into Effect

If you still remember the news about a social rating system first introduced in China in March 2018, it comes true right now. As per those who love British TV series, they must realize the similarities between the Chinese system and one episode of “Black Mirror” on Netflix.

Recently, the Beijing municipal government gave notice on its website relating to the implementation of this system at the end of 2020. The plan’s coverage will include all 130 crores citizens who the government will judge and grade points according to their social behavior.

There are many factors applied as a standard to evaluate citizens, such as criminal history, posts on any social media, and the like. All of these data will be extracted from several departments of the Chinese government. However, according to a report, the number of citizens who may be under punishment can reach up to 2.2 crores.

As mentioned above, China’s social rating system has many similarities with that in an episode of Netflix’s “Black Mirror”. More specifically, a citizen with a higher score must get more preferences from the government than others. The choices may include more comfortable travel permits or more ideal loans. However, people with a bad score will have to do their best to get more scores if they don’t want to stay still in their city forever.

In addition to easy-to-see advantages, the social rating system also has some aspects that need considering. According to activists for human rights, the system will probably turn Chinese citizens into boring numbers on a report card.

At this moment, the citizens in Hangzhou, China are the first ones who have tested this social rating system. After a few months, over 110 lakh people with severe social credit can’t travel by airplane, while more than 40 lakhs ones are blocked from high-speed trains.