"the world’s first digital dictatorship!"

Matthew Carney reports for ABC News,

China is building a digital dictatorship to exert control over its 1.4 billion citizens. For some, “social credit” will bring privileges — for others, punishment.

...A vast network of 200 million CCTV cameras across China ensures there’s no dark corner in which to hide.

...Every step she takes, every one of her actions big or small — even what she thinks — can be tracked and judged.

...What may sound like a dystopian vision of the future is already happening in China. And it’s making and breaking lives.

The Communist Party calls it “social credit” and says it will be fully operational by 2020.

Within years, an official Party outline claims, it will “allow the trustworthy to roam freely under heaven while making it hard for the discredited to take a single step”.

...It’s probably the largest social engineering project ever attempted, a way to control and coerce more than a billion people.

If successful, it will be the world’s first digital dictatorship.

...But social credit will be affected by more than just internet browsing and shopping decisions.

Who your friends and family are will affect your score. If your best friend or your dad says something negative about the government, you’ll lose points too.

Who you date and ultimately partner with will also affect social credit.

The pictures that go with this story are amazing. See them and read more here.