WHAT ABOUT THE DIGITAL DICTATORSHIP IN CHINA

Here we are arguing that in some country freedom and democracy, and which is not particularly. And everyone probably thinks that everything will continue to develop more democratic and democratic. And how to you such turn and prospects for all? I think it is very likely and everything is going to this in one form or another …

Since 2020, every citizen of China will receive a personal rating, which will depend on his rights, privileges, and, by and large, freedom. Mental China to digital dictatorship have been ready. Soon it will be ready and technologically.

Who’s on what list?

Speaking about the system of social rating, which the Chinese have been testing since 2014, as a rule, they remember the episode of the third season of seril “Black mirror”. His heroine lives in a society where all the polls have an electronic rating of reliability, with any contact put each other’s assessment, and when the main character arrives at the airport to fly to the wedding of her best friend, she is denied a ticket because of her fallen rating.

However, in China, everything is more complicated. They want to build a system in which people will not evaluate the behavior of others, but artificial intelligence. First, he’s open-minded. Secondly, it does not make mistakes.

Now the project is being tested in a pilot mode in 40 cities of the country

If you pay taxes, loans or alimony on time, volunteer, donate blood as a donor, you get points — welcome to the “red” list! If you do not comply with financial obligations, behave rudely in public transport, violate traffic rules (even just cross the street at a red light), insult users in social networks and even more so commit socially dangerous acts — you will write a minus in karma and will make a “black” list. From now on, you will be denied access to luxury hotels and restaurants, your children will not be accepted to a private school, the carrier will not sell you a ticket to a sleeping car, and at customs you will be inspected more carefully than the others. And you will be denied a subsidy or loan and will not be employed in a state institution.

For trustworthy representatives of the red list provides a range of incentives, even though some of them may seem ridiculous. These people are allowed to use public bicycles longer, take more books in the library, pass free medical examinations and receive all kinds of discounts and bonuses — for the purchase of products, payment for heating, etc.

Why would they?

The social rating system is becoming more and more widespread in China. It includes new departments and companies. Last year, 17 million Chinese were refused to buy plane tickets, 5.4 million people could not buy tickets for high-speed trains. All these people had a low rating and were classified as unreliable — mainly due to unpaid taxes and fines. All in all, all sorts of “black” lists included 14 million citizens and private companies.

SOCIAL RATING OF THE POPULATION IN CHINA

Of course, the Western media are horrified by the system invented by China (or rather by its Communist party). After all, it limits a person’s rights and subjects him to total control. However, the Chinese themselves, as shown by a survey conducted by foreign sociologists, support the idea. 80% of the population approves the introduction of ratings to assess reliability. And it is mainly educated urban residents with a high level of income.

The reasons for approval lie both in the Chinese mentality and in the perception of current problems. As Confucius taught, the most important qualities of a righteous person are honesty, goodwill and a desire for justice. Residents of China used to put the public good above personal gain. However, in modern Chinese society, the level of distrust and suspicion has increased greatly. This is considered one of the main problems in the country. Therefore, a significant part of the population does not mind if the authorities act as a Big Brother and slightly tighten the nuts. And the stated goals of the project are in tune with the expectations of the majority. This improvement in the moral character of citizens, increase patriotism and crime reduction.

How to put the country under control?

Starting next year, the social rating system will be centralized and all Chinese residents will be under control. The number of points of each citizen will be measured in real time. But how to do it technically? Chinese engineers and IT developers have the answer to this question. In the service of Big Brother presented a lot of ideas and technologies.

For example, the country has established mass production of cars equipped with geotags. They contain devices that themselves send various information to the competent authorities. This can be information about the location of the car, its speed and route. It is clear that now in violation of traffic rules (travel under the “brick”, a turn in the wrong place, speeding) the driver will not be able to avoid any penalty or falling into the “black” list.

Not the first year in China, tracking systems built on neural networks are used, and, therefore, capable of self-learning. With their help law enforcement authorities not only solve crimes, but also predict where and when the next crime will be committed.

Thus, 176 million video cameras have been installed in the country, 500 million more will be added to them in a year. All of them are connected to facial recognition systems equipped with artificial intelligence. Such a system is able, for example, to calculate suspicious passers-by on their behavior and gait and send a signal to the nearest station. And in some Chinese provinces, even street patrols are equipped with augmented reality glasses that can recognize faces.

Video cameras to identify citizens wanted by the police are now in all concert halls and other places of mass spectacle. Intelligent algorithms track the slightest offense, up to plucking flowers from the flower bed. The identity of such a person will be instantly established and entered in the “black” list. Video surveillance systems are used even when entering public restrooms to prevent visitors from stealing toilet paper.

Artificial intelligence analyzes not only people’s faces, but also purchases, acquaintances, places of stay of a particular person, his behavior on the Internet — posts, comments, likes… Depending on the information collected, it is concluded that a citizen is trustworthy.

Do not lag behind and mobile application developers

By order of the Communist youth Union of China, an application was written that allows everyone to track their social rating. Students are awarded points for the publication of scientific work, registration of a patent or volunteering. This provides benefits when interviewing an employer, renting an apartment, obtaining a visa or buying online courses.

Another application allows you to complain about negligent fellow citizens — those who evade financial obligations or violates public order. Sender for this add points to the rating. Does that seem shameful to you? But the Chinese do not think so. For them, mutual control and reporting (a word with a positive emotional coloring in the Russian language is difficult to choose) is quite natural. After all, again, the public above the personal.

While the system of social ranking is faltering

For example, the actress, whose photo was pasted on buses in the form of advertising, came huge fines for the wrong crossing the street. It turned out that the video tracking system took her portrait of a living person. But there is no doubt that the Chinese will cope with these problems.