China’s social credit systems and public opinion: Explaining high levels of approval

Kostka, Genia

doi:10.1177/1461444819826402

Cited by 316China's Socioeconomic Reforms and GovernanceCOVID-19 Digital Contact TracingPrivacy, Security, and Data Protection

China’s social credit systems and public opinion: Explaining high levels of approval

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Kostka, Genia·2019·New Media & Society

DOI 10.1177/1461444819826402

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Abstract

A variety of commercial and local government social credit systems (SCSs) are now being implemented in China in order to steer the behavior of Chinese individuals, businesses, social organizations, and government agencies. Previous research finds that these SCSs are employed by the Chinese state as “surveillance infrastructure” and for social management. This article focuses on a different angle: the public’s opinion of SCSs. Based on a cross-regional survey, the study finds a surprisingly high degree of approval of SCSs across respondent groups. Interestingly, more socially advantaged citizens (wealthier, better-educated, and urban residents) show the strongest approval of SCSs, along with older people. While one might expect such knowledgeable citizens to be most concerned about the privacy implications of SCS, they instead appear to embrace SCSs because they interpret it through frames of benefit-generation and promoting honest dealings in society and the economy instead of privacy-violation.

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Although China aspires to a nationwide social credit system, there is currently only a patchwork of local, regional, and private social credit systems, which enjoy unexpected levels of public approval.
“Although China aspires to a nationwide system, there is currently only a patchwork of local, regional, and private social credit systems, which enjoy unexpected levels of public approval (99).”
From Physical and virtual repertoires of contention (2022) · cites this paper as [99]

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Authors: Kostka, G.
Affiliations: Freie Universität Berlin (DE)
Corresponding author: Kostka, Genia
ORCID: Kostka, Genia
Venue: New Media & Society
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Published: 2019-02-13
Volume: 21
Issue: 7
Pages: 1565-1593
ISSN: 1461-4448 (ISSN-L)
1461-7315
DOI: 10.1177/1461444819826402
OpenAlex: W3124636197
Cited by: 316
References: 16
Citations by year: 2026: 38 · 2025: 44 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 31 · 2022: 73 · 2021: 40 · 2020: 45 · 2019: 14 · 2018: 1
FWCI: 181.86
Type: journal article
Language: en
Open access: hybrid
doi.org
Licence: cc-by-nc
journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license (tdm)
Locations: New Media & Society (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
Topics: Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › China's Socioeconomic Reforms and Governance
Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › COVID-19 Digital Contact Tracing
Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Privacy, Security, and Data Protection
Keywords: social credit system, public opinion, public approval, surveillance infrastructure, social management, privacy concerns, social inequality, socioeconomic status, urban-rural differences, age differences, framing, China

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China’s social credit systems and public opinion: Explaining high levels of approval

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