Introduction to the China Social Credit System [Punishments and Rewards] in 2021

The China Social Credit System and the Blacklist  

So far we have made several references to the ‘blacklists’ and ‘redlists’ associated with the China social credit system. So what exactly is a blacklist?

China currently has a number of national and regional blacklists based on various types of violations. It is expected that over time, the system of blacklists will be fully integrated with the social credit score. 

Businesses can be placed on a blacklist due to a particular violation or because of a poor social credit score. A government notice released in 2016 encourages businesses to consult the blacklist before they hire someone or assign them a contract. 

A blacklist of people restricted from taking air and rail transport.

Please note that companies will not be blacklisted automatically for compliance failures.  The corporate social credit system also maintains an Irregularity list. This list deals with significant (but not yet ‘blacklist’ level) non-compliance.

Presence on this list means the business is in danger of being blacklisted and should quickly take steps to improve its reputation.

The Chinese government utilizes the blacklist in multiple ways. The list itself is frequently being analyzed, with the available information on both its citizens and companies listed in their Master Database working as a template for assigning each person a score. 

While the China Blacklisting system is still in its early stages, it is already the most prominent system of its kind worldwide. China has already put this system into action, and has barred thousands of Chinese resident’s rights to buy plane tickets and travel either domestically or abroad. However, most of the blacklisting that has occurred to date has been as a result of violations or misbehaviour of companies and the individuals working for them. 

In its current iteration, the blacklisting system is highly complex. Instead of having a single blacklist used by the federal government, there are currently hundreds of blacklists being controlled by various state agencies around China. Every agency has their own jurisdiction in which they operate, giving these localized organizations the ability to blacklist individual citizens and companies that operate within their area of authority. 

It’s important to note that being blacklisted under one agency’s jurisdiction may leave the affected party subject to blacklisting from the remaining agencies across the country (the level of integration of blacklists differs across the country and between different government departments.

It typically takes 2 to 5 years to be successfully removed from a blacklist, which often has a negative impact on the privileges afforded to those individuals and businesses in society. Early removal from the list is a possibility for some, depending on the severity of the offense and whether the offending party has done enough to rectify the situation in the eyes of the relevant governing body.

In addition to being used as a metric for punishing citizens and companies for violating the country’s guidelines, the social credit system is also intended to be useful in China’s search for signs of potentially harmful behavior before it occurs. 

from Hacker News https://ift.tt/3nk5aaM