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Lillian Rudolph

Ms. Cuthbertson

American Literature

February 27th, 2020

China's Social Credit System

China is attempting to implement a social credit system in which: purchase history, social

media posts, and all movements are monitored to create a composite score for each person. This

score functions similar to a credit score, but it can also determine: people’s job opportunities, if

they can travel, ability to own a pet, and which school their children can attempt. China’s Credit

System is unjust due to: the infringement of people’s human rights, the fact that the Credit

System cannot be near precise enough to create an accurate point system, and the system cannot

consider people's circumstances or reasoning behind their actions.

China’s Social Credit systems infringement on human rights is an extreme violation

according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. As stated by Article 13 of the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “Everyone has the right to freedom of movement…”

and “Everyone has the right to leave any country…” China's new system clearly infringes upon

these rights by not allowing citizens freedom of movement without fear of losing points and by

restricting travel of citizens with lower point totals. When these rights are taken away from

citizens the government has too much control over the lives of their citizens.

China’s Credit System cannot be precise enough to create an accurate point system. In

order to create a person score many elements must be considered. According to Business Insider,
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“The exact methodology is kept secret ​— but examples of infractions include bad driving,

smoking in non-smoking zones, buying too many video games and posting fake news online.”

These infractions are solely based off of footage of a person commiting the infraction or by

purchase history being searched, but the citizens reasoning behind the infraction is not

considered. People are unable to: plead their case, their thought process, or circumstances. The

person infringing on these rules may have not known the area was a non-smoking area or may

have bought multiple video games to give as gifts. Ultimately, this system doesn’t consider the

reasoning behind it’s citizens actions, which makes it completely inaccurate. It’s possible that

citizens could lose points for an infraction they are not aware they have committed.

One may argue that this system punishes the bad and rewards the good. While it’s true

that people with good scores can get: more matches on dating sites, discounts on bills, rent items

without deposits, and get better interest rates the pros of this system do not outweigh the cons.

Since the exact methodology is unknown it is also unknown if it’s possible for a citizen to have a

high enough score to receive these perks or if minor infractions drop a person’s score low

enough that they can no longer receive them. Too much about this system is unknown to fully

implement it nationwide.

As China’s Social Credit System currently stands it is impractical and unusable. If the

system is reformed and the methodology behind it is revealed publicly it is possible that a system

similar to China’s Credit System can be made in the future, but as it stands now the system is too

inaccurate. Ultimately, China’s Social Credit System should not be implemented in China or

anywhere else in the world.