Chinese ‘social credit’ scores don’t control food access
David Williams
September 10, 2024
WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Chinese citizens need a social credit score of 650 to buy food in supermarkets.
OUR VERDICT
False. There is no social credit system in China that prevents people buying food.
AAP FACTCHECK – Chinese citizens are banned from buying food from the supermarket if they have fewer than 650 points as part of the country’s social credit score system, posts online claim.
This is false. There is no national social credit score system in China that prevents people from purchasing groceries.
“China updates its social credit system to incorporate central bank digital currency,” one Facebook post reads. ” Now a minimum social credit score of 650 is needed for buying food in this supermarket with facial recognition payment.”
It features a video in which a woman claims she can’t buy food – not due to a low social credit score, but because she can’t link facial recognition to her bank card.
Another post makes the same claim, but shares a different video.
In this clip, a woman buys food from a supermarket via a payment system that accepts facial recognition. There’s no mention of social credit scores.
A similar claim is made in an X post: “Now minimum Social Credit Score of 650 needed for dining at Burger King in China… It’s all fun and games until your social credit score (<650) doesn’t permit you buy food.”
Beijing-based Jeremy Daum, a China expert at Yale Law School, identified the X user as a major source of false information about China’s “credit” system.
“A lot of consumer/user reviews in apps and web platforms (similar to those on Uber, Amazon, Quora) are referred to as ‘credit’ in Chinese,” Mr Daum told AAP FactCheck.
“(The X account) frequently posts Chinese-language stories that have the word ‘credit’ or points in them, and claims they are something sinister in social credit. These get picked up by other social media.”
China announced plans for a social credit scoring system in 2014.
This Massachusetts Institute of Technology article explains the system was intended to be ready by 2020, but regulations on how it will operate are still being worked on.
A 2017 Wired article outlined that some localised and voluntary social credit systems are already in place.
One of the systems gives users the ability to take out a loan up to 5,000 yuan ($A1,050). If users reach 650 points they can rent a car without leaving a deposit.
However, nowhere is it suggested a score under 650 restricts food purchases.
Mr Daum confirmed China does not currently have a national citizen scoring system and said“there are no laws prohibiting grocery shopping or food purchases”.
He said: “It has a system called ‘social credit’ that is largely aimed at businesses, but is less about ranking than sharing records of a company’s legal violations and government licences.
“A few localities have tried ‘point systems’ for individuals, but there is a national government requirement that no punishments ever be based on these, and that punishment can only be given for violations of laws and regulations.”
Mr Daum said the posts may stem from references in China to either a delivery, food chain or payment firm’s “credit system” – like loyalty reward points – which involve incentives, rather than prohibiting purchases.
Leiden University academic Rogier Creemers, an expert in Chinese digital technology, said the claims were “utter nonsense”.
“There is no national social credit system in China that uses this sort of quantitative scoring,” Dr Creemers told AAP FactCheck.
“There are a few local ones, but any sanction under such system is usually limited to things like reduced access to government subsidies and other forms of state support, or eligibility to government offices.”
He said China had a system which restricted delinquent debtors accessing some high-end products, but it doesn’t involve scores.
“For instance, they cannot travel on high-speed trains or stay in luxury hotels,” Dr Creemers said.
“In short, these social media posts are (perhaps unsurprisingly) ludicrous, and there is nothing to suggest anything even remotely like this is on the cards in China.”
AAP FactCheck has debunked other similar claims, including that people can’t charge electric vehicles if their score is under 550 points and that China’s digital ID is linked to a person’s score. (AAP)
