Social Credit System in China

In the United States, citizens take their credit scores seriously since they can affect how they live their lives. They show the creditworthiness of people to lenders who then decide if these banks or credit card companies should provide people with loans if needed for purchases. In China, the government takes these scores more vigorously and instead of taking out loans, these scores are decided based on the honesty and integrity of their citizens. If a citizen is behaving correctly in society, they are rewarded with discounts on energy bills, rent items without deposits, and provide a citizen with more matches on a dating website. If a citizen behaves dishonestly, they can be banned from taking a flight, get their dog taken away, and be blacklisted, which is the lowest position possible .

The Social Credit System and Its Main Features

The State Council of China, in 2014, published a document called 'Planning Outline for the Construction of a Social Credit System' claiming a radical idea that would forever change China. The plan explained that the citizens of China were to now be constantly monitored and evaluated depending on their daily activities whether their activities are positive or negative (Botsman, Rachel). From this, a citizen score, ranging from 350 as the lowest to 950 as the highest, would be generated. This provides information to other citizens showing if somebody is trustworthy (Campbell, Charlie). The score would be publicly ranked against the 1.3 billion citizens of China and will determine everything in their lives. Some examples include their eligibility for a job or where their children will go to school. By 2020, every citizen will have to participate whether they approve of this system or not (Botsman, Rachel).

Before the social credit system, cash was the biggest payment method used in China where only 1 in 3 citizens had a bank account. Since China went from extreme poverty to being the world's No. 2 economy, they never had a chance to develop credit history (Campbell, Charlie). Therefore, people would be able to default on loans and sell counterfeit goods with little to no repercussions. In 2015, the government allowed eight companies to run a test trial to see if this system is possible (Campbell, Charlie). According to the Chinese government, the biggest goal they wanted to accomplish would be to “allow the trustworthy to roam everywhere under heaven while making it hard for the discredited to take a single step” (Elgan, Mike).

With over 200 million surveillance cameras that uses facial recognition, they detect when citizens are not being compliant with China’s rules and regulations. Both private companies, one being Sesame Credit, and the government, can collect data of citizens and use this information from their databases and rate citizens accordingly (Marr, Bernard). Alibaba, an online shopping site, collects purchase data from its 1 billion users and judges them according to the types of products bought. If a citizen purchases video games, they are perceived as an idle person and therefore get a lower score. On the other hand, if a citizen purchases diapers, they are considered to be a parent and therefore show they are responsible and so get a higher score (Botsman, Rachel).

Around 80% of Chinese citizens who partook in a social credit survey either somewhat or strongly approved of having this system implemented in China. The wealthier and higher educated citizens are believed to be the ones who strongly approve of this system. They believed these changes promote good behavior and protect them from fraud and bad businesses (Marr, Bernard). While citizens believe the system is great, the Chinese government believes that students and households with low income will be able to benefit from the system. They will be able to raise their citizens score and therefore acquire better jobs which will improve their quality of life (Botsman, Rachel). A professor from the Capital Normal University in China, Wang Shuqin, stated that she supports the government implementing this system and refers it to “China’s social faithful system”. Since citizens are now able to verify the creditworthiness of each other, business contracts are more than likely to be kept and little to no risky moves can be done (Botsman, Rachel). Therefore, the economy will be able to expand, be more competitive, and no businesses will be hurting the process.

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Although this system promotes honesty and integrity, black markets give rise for ways that citizens are able to manipulate and boost their citizens score. Chinese citizens can pay hackers to change their score and sometimes, hackers can steal information and sell them for their own benefit (Botsman, Rachel). The government intends to limit free speech since they believe that when a citizen “spreads rumors’” about the government, they should be penalized. Therefore, citizens aren’t able to practice freedom of speech online and in person as this can lower their citizen score (Campbell, Charlie). Since the Chinese government publicly shames their blacklisted citizens, many believe this will lead to abuse of power. The government has the ability to expose and punish people with low social score which doesn’t give fair treatment, or due process, to all citizens of China (Zeng, Meg J.). In some provinces, they display citizens using screens in public areas to shame them while other provinces will remotely change your dial tone to say “the person you are calling is a dishonest debtor” (Zeng, Meg J.)

Ethical Analysis

Hedonism discusses that a life is good if it’s filled with pleasure and free of pain. A good life involves happiness, which can improve one’s welfare and quality of life and that by limiting unhappiness in our lives, it shall reduce misery. With the social credit system, Chinese citizens are able to improve their scores, which can lead to more happiness in their lives. Since they are able to acquire more with a higher score, citizens would strive to become the best, so they can take advantage of the good benefits. On the other hand, hedonism may limit autonomy, which gives the power to control our own lives with free choice. Using paternalism, China imposes limits that infringes on citizens liberties against their will but for their own good. Though paternalism can provide happiness, it still limits free choice which in turn could make citizens miserable. Many citizens may feel they are not able to be their own authentic self since the government, to an extent, is controlling them. Hedonism would most likely agree with China implementing this system because good behavior and trustworthiness can promote happiness since the government’s goal is to eliminate fraud and reward the citizens who are contributing to society.

Consequentialism preaches that people should do as much good as they can that best produces good overall results. A moral theory under consequentialism would be act utilitarianism, which states that well-being is the only thing that is essentially valuable. Consequentialism would most likely agree with this system since the government believes it will improve the well-being of others. With the system, low-income citizens and students are able to rise above and be able to show that they are credible and honest, which will help them rank higher in society. Since the system affects all Chinese citizens, it produces the greatest good for the greatest number. Every citizen has the advantage of acquiring the highest score possible, which will maximize the goodness in society. On the other hand, consequentialism wants us to measure well-being where somebody adds up all the benefits a choice produces, add up all the harm it causes, find its balance, and then determine if the balance is worth the action. Since Chinese citizens are given a score based on their daily activities, it seems unfair to judge citizens vigorously based on their actions. Sometimes people can’t decide all the good and bad of an action before they commit it since it would require time before resulting in a conclusion.

The Kantian perspective, which follows deontological ethics, believes that it’s not about the consequences that arise from actions, whether they be right or wrong, but about the motive that is carried out by the person. Since this is the case, China’s social credit system goes against Kant’s perspective. With the system, the government does not investigate why somebody did what they did, but bases a citizen's score on whether they did the right or wrong act. Therefore, this would not be fair for citizens who have a low score for a reason. For example, if a citizen were to have a death in the family and become depressed, they might buy alcohol and resort to drinking heavily. Buying alcohol will significantly reduce the citizens score and therefore limit them and buy other products they may need like purchasing a plane or train ticket. If the government were to see these transactions, they would not care that he was drinking to suppress his feelings.

Conclusion

In 2014, China decided to implement a social credit system for its citizens that will reward citizens for being trustworthy and honest and discredit citizens for being dishonest. Six years later, the system is close to completion that soon, everyone living in China will have to partake in the social credit system. The reason for this system in China is due to citizens not having bank accounts therefore others do not know if they are trustworthy. Personally, I believe this social credit system is a good idea because if you are a citizen with a good score, you are able to be rewarded with benefits that will improve the quality of life.