If you've seen episode one of Black Mirror, you'll know that everything in the TV show's overly sunny opener isn't as rosy as it seems.
For those of you that haven't seen it, basically (and no spoilers here), it's about a world where everything runs on social media points. Likes = good life karma and good life karma means that all sorts of avenues open themselves up to you.
As a result, everyone is so terrified about being ranked poorly for their real life interactions that they're forced to be SO DAMN NICE IT HURTS.
IRL that wouldn't happen. Would it? Well, turns out China are already thinking of implementing a 'point system' for its citizens and it sounds eerily familiar.
The Communist Government of China are notoriously overbearing, and this new document, released in September, has outlined that they from they want to give people marks on everything from caring for elderly relatives to using the internet 'falsely'. Every time a transgression is committed, they'll be docked a certain amount of points. Losing those points means they may be restricted from things like overseas travel and borrowing money reports the Independent.
The information will be collected by tracking the data of every online interaction made and is intended to show how 'trustworthy' a citizen is. 'If trust is broken in one place, restrictions are imposed everywhere.'
A similar project was trialled and quickly repealed in Suining County a few years ago due to public outcry. Nevertheless the Chinese government seem keen to go ahead with this, hoping it will be in place by 2020.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.