Beijing pioneering citizens' 'points' system critics brand 'Orwellian'


BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing's municipal government will assign citizens and firms "personal trustworthiness points" by 2021, state media reported on Tuesday, pioneering China's controversial plan for a "social credit" system to monitor citizens and businesses.

The system's rollout has attracted international headlines, sparking comparisons to George Orwell's novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four", with critics saying it could massively heighten the Chinese Communist Party's already strict control over society.

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