Monday, 5 September 2022

Surveillance technology being used to control citizen behaviour!

 

Chinese surveillance cameras

Many countries, such as China, are now using facial recognition technology as a means of surveillance and as a way of exercising social control over their citizens. It's a kind of dystopian 'Blg Brother' system that the British author George Orwell, warned us of in his novel 'Nineteen Eighty-Four'. 

China uses surveillance as a way of inculcating 'positive' behaviour in its citizens using a 'Social Credit' system. If a Chinese citizen acts in a way that the CCP approves of, and shows loyalty to the party, their credit rating score goes up. If they break the rules, such as fighting with a neighbour, or not wearing a COVID face mask, they lose points. This can affect your ability to obtain credit, obtain housing, or employment. 

The Iranian government, are also now planning to use facial recognition technology to identify women who don't comply with their strict laws on wearing the hijab. In 2014, six Iranians - three men and three women - were identified and sentenced to one year in prison and 91 lashes, after a video showed them dancing in Tehran, to Pharrell Williams's song 'Happy'. The video had more than 150,000 views.

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