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<div>As promised, here’s the China Social Credit Score System that you don’t want in the USA:</div><div>
https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/digital-authoritarianism-china-and-covid
Excerpt
Introduction
In April 2020 Dr Ai Fen, head of the emergency department at Wuhan Central Hospital, gave an interview to Chinese magazine Renwu.[2] She described in great detail how, late in December 2019, she had begun receiving numerous patients into the emergency room with flu-like symptoms that were resistant to the usual treatments. She recounted how she “broke out in a cold sweat” when the first virus report of one of those patients came back. She hastily circled the words “SARS coronavirus”, screen-shot the report, and sent it to colleagues. Very quickly, her report circulated around Wuhan medical circles. But instead of mobilising the hospital and authorities, Dr Ai’s actions saw her reprimanded by the hospital disciplinary committee for “spreading rumours” and “harming stability”.[3] Rather than warning staff and the public, hospital authorities told staff not to wear personal protective equipment and relayed instructions from the local health protection committee that, to avoid causing panic, doctors were prohibited from sharing messages and reports related to the virus.[4]
But Dr Ai’s report was shared in a private post by another doctor, Li Wenliang, that later went viral on Chinese social media. As a result, Dr Li was temporarily detained by China’s “internet police”, which form part of the formal Chinese cybersecurity defence apparatus, and forced to sign a police document admitting that he had “severely disturbed the social order”.[5] He later died of COVID-19 after treating numerous patients in Wuhan.[6]
Dr Li’s death sparked outrage in China and was accompanied by calls for greater freedom of expression, government accountability, and opposition to online censorship.
Dr Li’s death sparked outrage in China and was accompanied by calls for greater freedom of expression, government accountability, and opposition to online censorship. Thousands of posts on messaging app WeChat and micro-blogging platform Weibo mourning the death and criticising authorities were not immediately suppressed by internet censors, echoing brief windows of openness that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) allowed during previous times of crisis.[7] The storm over Dr Li’s death also prompted China’s National Supervisory Commission to conduct an inquiry into the handling of early reports of the virus and Dr Li’s treatment. The official investigation report exonerated Dr Li, apologised to his family, and concluded that the police handling of his reprimand was inappropriate.[8] Wuhan province-level officials were also removed from their posts.
But the same official investigation warned that “hostile forces with ulterior motives, who tried to stir up trouble, delude people, and instigate public emotions, are doomed to fail”.[9] Censors began to remove internet posts and block trending hashtags #WeWantFreedomOfSpeech and #Wuhan Government Owes Dr Li Wenliang An Apology.[10] With the help of artificial intelligence-powered search engine tools, the same internet police that silenced Dr Li were efficiently dispatched to pursue netizens who had written critically about the Chinese government’s handling of the outbreak and Dr Li’s treatment.[11]
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