China to ban people with low “social credit” from rail and air travel

Anca Alexe 21/03/2018 | 11:50

Chinese authorities say a “social credit system” will be implemented in May to rank citizens based on a comprehensive monitoring of their daily behaviour, Reuters reports. Those with low social credit will banned from boarding planes and trains for up to a year, according to plans published by the government.

The social credit system will be similar to private credit scoring systems, but will be based on the social behaviour of citizens, and penalties could be caused by a broad range of offenses, including spreading false information about terrorism, causing trouble on flights, using expired tickets or smoking on trains.

People who commit financial wrongdoings such as failing to pay fines or social insurance will also face restrictions.

The move is part of President Xi Jinping’s plan to build a social credit system based on the principle of “once untrustworthy, always restricted”.

According to Reuters, some believe that the use of this type of social scoring on domestic transport might have started years ago: in 2017, China’s Supreme People’s Court said that more than 6 million citizens had been banned from taking flights due to social misdeeds. Furthermore, a Wired report last year found that a user with low credit on Alibaba’s private scoring system had to pay more to rent a bicycle or a hotel room.

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