- “The KGB and the Stasi’s method of preventing dissent from taking hold was to plant so-called agents provocateurs in the general population, people who tried to make people agree with dissent, but who actually were arresting them as soon as they agreed with such dissent. As a result, nobody would dare agree that the government did anything bad, and this was very effective in preventing any large-scale resistance from taking hold. The Chinese way here is much more subtle, but probably more effective still.”
I'm not entirely sure how reliable 'The Antimedia' typically is, so here are alternative articles:
Casual lurker, with some experience with China-style crazy, this strikes me as sensationalism. https://www.techinasia.com/china-citizen-scores-credit-system-orwellian From what I understand (from discussing this with real humans, second hand knowledge), China is known to limit which companies can develop and sell certain technological products before opening it up to other companies. These credit systems are not really Chinese government "official" but more like Chinese government "approved". It sounds like they just added some marketing gimmicks and adapted their systems to promote their main businesses. The China-oriented news sites I frequent haven't made any mention of any plans by the Chinese government to develop such a system (though it's possible they are). The impression I get is that these articles are a slightly sensationalist depiction of a misinterpretation of some Chinese government documents regarding the credit system that the CPC intends to roll out in 2020.
Full disclosure: I'm a civil libertarian through and through and would do everything possible to opt out of any sort of system. On the face of it, China gamifying political correctness is dystopian as hell. BUT China's been a dystopia for a while. Long has life been cheap and the Chinese system of neighbors ratting you out for political favor predates Mao by generations. The sociopolitical system of China is not one that celebrates diversity or ingenuity; Jared Diamond observed that inventions and innovations of the East rocketed through the West because the West placed a premium on change while the East placed a premium on stability. Gunpowder came to Europe and reshaped the political landscape because European culture rewards those who tinker. Gunpowder was invented in China and was used for displays because Chinese culture rewards those who maintain the status quo. BESIDES If you read an article on CBSNews.com that said the Chinese were creating "correctness scores" on their citizens using large corporations and data mining, you'd say "well, duh" because that's the sort of thing we've come to expect from oppressive totalitarian regimes. Shit, that's the sort of thing you'd expect in the land of the free, home of the brave. Pretty sure some kid named Eddie Snowbird accused the FBI of something like that or something. What's rustling jimmies here is they're making the score public. Think about that: this is the government saying "attention, citizen, your DoublePlusGood score is veering dangerously low, best watch your mouth when speaking ill of the Party!" There's really only one reason for a totalitarian regime to do that: They don't want to have to deal with your shit. China is not a place free of political oppression. However, an Oppression Readiness Score isn't how you increase oppression. It's how you decrease enforcement. At least, on the networks where it applies. You think the Chinese don't have Tor?