China Reportedly Set to 'Gamify' Obedience to the Government — Plans to Use 'Social Credit' System to Track Each Person's Allegiance

With what some are calling a concept straight out of George Orwell's "1984," China has reportedly "gamified" obedience to the government's regime.

According to a Youtube video posted by "Extra Credit," which has amassed well over a half million views in just one week, China has created a tool called "Sesame Credit" to track how closely each citizen follows the party line.

Image via Youtube/Extra Credit

According to the video, the system tracks things such as what citizens post on social media, to what they buy online and how much.

"If you post pictures of Tiananmen Square or share a link about the recent stock market collapse, your Sesame Credit goes down," the video explains. "Share a link from the state-sponsored news agency about how good the economy is doing and your score goes up."

"If you're making purchases the state deems valuable, like work shoes or local agricultural products your score goes up," it adds. "If you import anime from Japan though, down the score goes."

Acting much like an American citizen's credit score, a Chinese citizen's "Sesame Score" will have real-world benefits — or consequences. Rumored benefits included making it easier to obtain paperwork necessary to travel or making it easier for citizens to apply and receive a bank loan. Consequences could include slowing down internet speeds or restricting the jobs those with a low score can have. In addition, if a person's friends have low scores, their score could also trend downward.

The video comes after BBC reported in October that the Chinese government was building a "social credit" platform that would track each citizen's obedience or trustworthiness to the state.

While participating in the system is currently optional, it will reportedly become mandatory by 2020.

Watch the video below via Extra Credit:

(H/T: Zero Hedge)

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