China’s Social Credit System: Look inside and Out

• Main Author: Trakhtenberg A.D.
• Format: Article
• Language: Russian
• Published: Publishing House Discourse-P 2019-03-01
• Series: Дискурс Пи
• Subjects: techno-optimism; social credit system; digital authoritarianism; trust; reputation management.
• Online Access: http://madipi.ru/images/uploads/108-118_Трахтенберг.pdf

The article analyzes the plans of the PRC government to build a social credit system, within the framework of which the integration of databases accumulated by both authorities and private IT companies should be carried out. It is shown that the external reaction to the creation of a social credit system does not coincide with the internal one. Outside of China, the social credit system was perceived as an instrument of comprehensive social and political surveillance using artificial intelligence, social networks, the Internet of things, and other latest advances in information technology. In China itself, the system of social credit sees a tool of preemptive management through reputation, designed to increase the level of interpersonal trust, the level of trust in government and the society manageability. The implementation of this system in practice is still at the level of numerous (at least 40) local pilot projects, in which the discretion of local authorities plays a significant role. The author concludes that the comprehensive system of social credit is still rather a propaganda project that instills optimism in the citizens of China and generates dystopic fears in the surrounding world.