North China's Hebei court system unveils program to expose deadbeat debtors

Zhang Yu
China Daily
Wed, 16 Jan 2019 17:37 UTC

Screenshot shows the mini-program.

Deadbeat debtors in North China's Hebei province will find it more difficult to abscond as the Higher People's Court of Hebei on Monday introduced a mini-program on WeChat targeting them.

Called "a map of deadbeat debtors", the program allows users to find out whether there are any debtors within 500 meters.

The debtor's information is available to check in the program, making it easier for people to whistle-blow on debtors capable of paying their debts.

"It's a part of our measures to enforce our rulings and create a socially credible environment," said a spokesman of the court.

Comment: The app discussed is a further extension of the "social credit" system being implemented in China. A two-edged sword, as it is meant to encourage pro-social behaviour, helping to govern the world's most populous country, but also a means of punishing those who step out of line. Who determines the line?

China's building a digital dictatorship through "social credit" to exert control over its 1.4 billion citizens

[M]most don't seem to comprehend the all-encompassing control social credit is likely to have, and there's been no public debate about implementing the system inside China. In private, there's been some disquiet in the educated middle classes about the citizen score being the only criterion for character assessment.

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