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Russia launches "social rating" platform to determine a person’s comparative “social status” (www.themoscowtimes.com)

submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

103 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/536301

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The Russia’s State Social University (RSSU) has launched a “social rating” platform that claims to build a person’s “social portrait” with possible applications in future government policies.

Named “We,” the platform promises to determine a user’s comparative “social status” based on a survey that includes questions about income, family status, benefits, creditworthiness, criminal record, lifestyle and state awards, among others.

“The social rating figures don’t affect [a person’s] life, the availability of services or the career trajectory in any way,” RSSU said on the platform’s website. “But who knows what these figures will mean for you in the future?”

Observers on social media compared the platform’s name “We” to the highly influential 1921 dystopian novel of the same name by Russian author Yevgeny Zamyatin. [The novel "We" describes a world of harmony and conformity within a united totalitarian state. It inspired British author George Orwell to write his own novel, "Nineteen Eighty-Four", which was published in 1949.]

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[–] [email protected] 56 points 4 months ago (14 children)

That's probably the inspiration, but like hell they'll manage to actually build something as functional.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 4 months ago (13 children)

I wouldn’t underestimate the engineering competence of Russians especially when it comes to autocratic surveillance tools. There are plenty of Russian-built tools and web apps that function quite well - Yandex, VK, etc. The west does not have a monopoly on innovation.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago (6 children)

The west does not have a monopoly on innovation.

Nope - but it does look like we have the "monopoly" of being able to call out bullshit openly and not fear falling out of a window. Or being stabbed.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago

That’s a monopoly I appreciate. Although it’s marginal depending on a number of factors.

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