State Control by Stealth in the Big Data Era – From WeChat to the Social Credit System in China
Main Article Content
Keywords
cashless society, credit rating, mobile payment, Social Credit System, WeChat
Abstract
This paper begins with a brief study on the development of the Chinese all-in-one app, WeChat, explaining how WeChat secured its popularity as the multi-functional ubiquitous mobile app in China. By using WeChat as an example, this paper further studies how the Social Credit System (SCS) in China was established out of collaboration between the Chinese government and eight entrusted private companies. This paper then analyses and evaluates the SCS from a socio-legal perspective, focusing on two key implications: the opaque algorithms and the potential abuse of power. The paper argues that the SCS needs to first gain trust from Chinese citizens. A starting point would be immediate action to standardise and reduce the opacity of the prototype. To enhance the longevity and effectiveness of the SCS, developing a legal framework to prohibit potential information misuse by the State and the entrusted companies is crucial: it needs to be put in place sooner rather than later. In constructing the much-needed legal framework, developing privacy laws is certainly a core step, but the framework needs more than just privacy laws. One crucial safeguard is the requirement for an independent tribunal or ombudsman to deal with credit-related complaints fairly and efficiently.
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Lagerkvist, J. (2015). Wrong values? No money: On China’s new “social credit system”. Retrieved from https://www.dissidentblog.org/en/articles/wrong-values-no-money-chinas-new-social-credit-system
Lake, R. W. (2017). Big Data, Urban Governance, and the Ontological Politics of Hyperindividualism. Big Data & Society, January, 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951716682537
Lee, C. S. (2019). Datafication, dataveillance, and the social credit system as China’s new normal. Online Information Review, 43(6).
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Liang, F., Das, V., Kostyuk, N., & Hussain, M. M. (2018). Constructing a Data‐Driven Society: China's Social Credit System as a State Surveillance Infrastructure. Policy & Internet, 10(4), 415-453.
Lievens, M. (2015). From Government to Governance: A Symbolic Mutation and its Repercussions for Democracy. Political Studies. 63, 2–17.
Ling, H. (2015). The New Red Envelop Tradition During the Chinese Lunar New Year. Retrieved from http://news.gxnews.com.cn/staticpages/20150224/newgx54ebe66d-12264979.shtml
Mistereanu, S. (2018). Life Inside China’s Social Credit Laboratory: The party’s massive experiment in ranking and monitoring Chinese citizens has already started. Retrieved from http://foreignpolicy.com/2018/04/03/life-inside-chinas-social-credit-laboratory/
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Dec 10, 2021
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Li, G. (2021). State Control by Stealth in the Big Data Era – From WeChat to the Social Credit System in China. Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, 9(4), 88–109. https://doi.org/10.18080/jtde.v9n4.443
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Author Biography
Grace Li, University of Technology Sydney
Dr. Grace Li joined the Law Faculty in 2006 after teaching part-time from 2001. Grace completed her LLB, LLM and PHD in law. She has also completed a Graduate Certificate in Business Administration (GCBA) and a Graduate Certificate in Higher Teaching and Learning (GCHTL). Dr. Li’s research has been focused on the telecommunications law and policy.She has many publications and she presents regularly at national and international conferences. In addition, Dr. Li also does research in the area of company law and international legal education.
