Starting in May, Chinese citizens who rank low on the country\u2019s burgeoning \u201csocial credit\u201d system will be in danger of being banned from buying plane or train tickets for up to a year, according to statements recently released by the country\u2019s National Development and Reform Commission.<\/p>\n
With the\u00a0social credit system<\/a>, the Chinese government rates citizens based on things like criminal behavior and financial misdeeds, but also on what they buy, say, and do. Those with low \u201cscores\u201d have to deal with penalties and restrictions. China has been working towards rolling out a full version of the system by 2020, but some early versions of it are already in place.<\/p>\n Previously, the Chinese government had focused on restricting the travel of people with massive amounts of debt, like LeEco and Faraday Future founder Jia Yueting, who made the Supreme People\u2019s Court blacklist\u00a0late last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n The new travel restrictions are the latest addition to this growing patchwork of social engineering, which has already imposed punishments on\u00a0more than seven million citizens<\/a>. And there\u2019s a broad range when it comes to who can be flagged. Citizens who have spread \u201cfalse information about terrorism,\u201d caused \u201ctrouble\u201d on flights, used expired tickets, or were caught smoking on trains could all be banned,\u00a0according to\u00a0Reuters<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n