Because the Great Firewall isn't enough oppression! (BBC News)
Basically, it's an app/system similar to Western financial credit systems that gives you a "score" for doing actions considered positive by cultural values. It reviews things like online purchase history, shared images, and other such actions to determine your score.
Sounds like a fun game?
Yeah... not at all. It has enormous potential for abuse, such as lowering scores for writing government-critical posts, such as pictures of Tiananmen Square. Your scores are going to be publicly available. It includes an insidious mechanic where associating with low-score people lowers your own score, inspiring people to abandon friends that perhaps have anti-Communist Party thoughts. The BBC article states that, for instance, playing video games can lower your score. This number appears on dating sites. It has real-world consequences not just in reputation but also in terms of hard benefits, such as making it easier to get paperwork through the government, such as to travel, or to get a loan, or even to get a job.
And it will be mandatory by 2020. Orwell rolling in his grave.
For those who enjoy Extra Credits,
they did a video on it. My apologies for the 2-day old news, but I don't seem to recall a thread on it.
EDIT: Oops, seems there was already a thread on this.
