this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2024

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181

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]

92 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] 60 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (3 children)

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.

They actually couldn't choose a different name than the novel that was written specifically about this very dystopian subject? Did they use it as inspiration? Because that seems more than coincidence...

[–] [email protected] 81 points 4 months ago

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago

Weibo and WeChat hide

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

It's a blocking method. If 90% of the people who search a term are looking for the social platform it becomes much harder to find the book. Think of it like trying to find archival news articles about a perennial topic. You have to wade through all the recent shit and then there's 2 hits from the time period you're checking.

[–] [email protected] 52 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Well this sounds a bit familiar...

Next step is adding a scoring system with penalties for certain behavior and it will be quite similar to the social system that is rolling out in China...

[–] [email protected] 21 points 4 months ago (1 children)

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

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago (2 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] 9 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] 6 points 4 months ago

Oh that's coming. Stay tuned.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 4 months ago (3 children)

Yandex is a good example, VK - I'm not certain of that.

Anyway, what I meant is that such kind of social rating needs to source data from somewhere. That means integration with quite a lot of systems built for the Russian state, which often suck a lot. It's normal that half the time remote payments for utilities don't work, for example.

I mean, yeah, they can. But if it's going to be some nation-wide system for the government, the bureaucracy will practically kill this.

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[–] [email protected] 33 points 4 months ago

I see the North Korea visit was pretty useful

[–] [email protected] 31 points 4 months ago (3 children)

The social rating figures don’t affect [a person’s] life, the availability of services or the career trajectory in any way

unless you're gay...

[–] [email protected] 25 points 4 months ago (1 children)

There are no gay people in Russia.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago

shoots gun

Not anymore

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

Then what are they for? Like the government just puts up a leaderboard and leaves it at that.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 4 months ago (2 children)

“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?”

Well that's a relief...

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago

When was the last time an entity that generated stats about someone didn’t end up with those stats being used to the detriment of the individual - or at the very least for the profit of another?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

There was me thinking it could be used for something sinister.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 4 months ago

Let's see how the Make Russia China campaign goes!

[–] [email protected] 21 points 4 months ago (3 children)

This is literally the plot for a Black Mirror episode.

[–] [email protected] 25 points 4 months ago

This is literally the plot for *China.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 4 months ago (1 children)

From. Nosedive to be specific.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago

or, for an example with better writing, a Community episode

[–] [email protected] 20 points 4 months ago

I give this news 5 MeowMeowBeenz.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 4 months ago (9 children)

...but who knows...

Yeeaaaahhhhh, about that. We are totally not going the China way, its just that we are because fuck you.

Russia is a maffia state and should be dismantled, prove me wrong.

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

They made meow meow beans?

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

They've taken everything subjective and unspoken about human interaction and reduced it to explicit, objective numbers. I've never felt so alive.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (10 children)

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.

Criminal record: putin's scoreboard of excellency https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3174724/russias-putin-decorates-army-unit-accused-ukraine-war-crimes

How many putinpoints do they get for using a 3 to 13million$ Kh-101 cruise missile to bomb a children's hospital chemo ward?

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Omg, the RSSU, lmao. How is this not the Onion?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago (2 children)

What's wrong with RSS-- Oh. Well, Putinism is opposite of communism.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

Putinism as it is. Oligarchy and survailance.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

Oh shit it’s meow meow beans

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago (1 children)

You can see why all the M-Ls on this site want Russia to win their fascist invasion. Clearly the Revolution lives.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago

Some .ml fellas can explain that this is good, actually. Oil oligarch kleptocracy with murdering political opponent characteristics is one of the most leftist governments possible, so everything they do is good.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Russia can into tinpot dictator.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Seems like RSSU is fishing for the government's money.

It's probably very badly implemented and doesn't work as described. In a sense this is good, but my point stands.