RGSU confirmed the development of a social rating system – Kommersant

Vice-Rector for Science of the Russian State Social University (RGSU) Vasily Urozhenko confirmed that his university is developing an experimental platform “We”, which generates a social rating for Russians based on various parameters. Students and staff of the university were invited to test the system.

“As part of the project, our scientists set the task of developing a modern social scoring system on a specially created qualimetric platform using probabilistic and statistical assessment models,” reported the RSSU press service.

The RSSU expects that this system will be able to be used by authorities at all levels, as well as public organizations “to implement prompt and objective social support for the population.” Work on the system began more than a year ago: all this time, the university collected information from respondents who participated in the study voluntarily. Among them were students and teaching staff of RGSU.

As explained in report from 2022, the rating will look like a two-component scoring code. Both components will be two-digit numbers: the first number is the person’s social status, the second is his social level. For example, 47-29. Social status is the “merits” of a person, and the social level is the digitization of his “prospects” from the point of view of the state.

The release noted that the social level of an academician may be inferior to that of “a young unmarried craftsman working at a machine-building plant and producing children’s sleds for sale in his garage.” The second component of the marker reflects the state’s expectations regarding human development reserves and the willingness to support the implementation of his personal prospects for the benefit of the country.

The authors of the “We” project propose to link the scoring code with the citizen’s personal data, such as SNILS, TIN, passport information and phone number. The 2022 report said that the system would help divide citizens into classes based on their usefulness to the state: “If resources are scarce, clear criteria for their distribution are needed.”

The name of the social rating system “We” coincides with the name of the dystopian novel by Yevgeny Zamyatin.

The social rating system operates in hundreds of cities and counties in China. The first information about social rating pilot projects in China appeared in 2014. The social credit system was officially legalized in 2021.

In China, people with a low rating cannot get a normal job, they are not given loans, they are not sold transport tickets, and they may be refused to rent transport, such as a bicycle. Points are deducted for participating in protests against the authorities, posting anti-government messages on social networks, spreading fake news on the Internet, and refusing to help elderly parents.

Anastasia Larina