Via the BBC, China is rolling out a social media/credit monitoring/citizen compliance type app backed by Alibaba.

While the cataloging and rating of financial transactions is nothing new (think US credit scores), tying the score into being a “good citizen” by whatever metrics the government chooses is worrying, and coupling the whole thing to a social network where low-scoring friends can damage your own rating is downright Orwellian.

If you’re not sure why this is a powerful and potentially dangerous idea, here’s a quick and eloquent video breakdown from the Extra Credits: