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.]

  • Dragomus@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    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…

    • rottingleaf@lemmy.zip
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      6 months ago

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

      • silkroadtraveler@lemmy.today
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        6 months ago

        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.

        • nexusband@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          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.

        • rottingleaf@lemmy.zip
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          6 months ago

          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.

          • silkroadtraveler@lemmy.today
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            6 months ago

            Comparing run of the mill government services with something as advantageous as a social credit app is not apples to apples. It’s not like they assign utility administrators to work for GRU hacking units. The people that build this tool will be highly paid technical experts. And there is no shortage of them in Russia. It’s definitely not 100% but there’s a decent chance they can cobble together a working system that tracks social scores for the vast majority of Russian citizens.

            • rottingleaf@lemmy.zip
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              6 months ago

              Social scores would logically depend on the data sourced from things working as I described.

              But you may be right, of course.

              • silkroadtraveler@lemmy.today
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                6 months ago

                Ah I see what you mean(t). You would have to have working systems with clean-enough data in the first place to integrate with in order to develop a system like this. Not just the expertise to develop it.

          • sfxrlz@lemmy.world
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            6 months ago

            How do you mean remote payments for utilities. Buying something in Russia from a foreign country or the other way around ? Or just remote payments through Russia ?

            • rottingleaf@lemmy.zip
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              6 months ago

              I meant - submitting water counters’ data and such via their website and paying there. It’s not about payments themselves.

  • Justin@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    6 months ago

    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…

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      6 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.

    • rottingleaf@lemmy.zip
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      6 months ago

      It’s likely both. A compromise between hoping to build something real in the half-assed world that is Russia, and between wish to protest against its half-assed totalitarianism.

  • katy ✨@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    6 months ago

    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…

  • Chaotic Entropy
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    6 months ago

    “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…

    • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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      6 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?

    • Blackmist
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      6 months ago

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

    • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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      6 months ago

      “But who knows what these figures will mean for you in the future?”

      Well that’s not ominous at all

    • barsquid@lemmy.world
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      6 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.

  • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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    6 months ago

    …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.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      We are totally not going the China way

      The thing that allows China (and increasingly Russia) to function is the domestic industrialization and steadily rising standard of living that makes these governments popular back home. Their surveillance states exist to gatekeep access to the higher ranks of industrial control and economic authority.

      The NATO block has largely divested of its industrial base and focused entirely on industrial imports to sustain the respective economies. Our surveillance state is far more concerned with enforcing a social caste system and propping up an increasingly fragile financial system.

      Russia is a maffia state

      I’ve heard it described as a glorified gas station. But that was 20 years ago, when the Russians were pivoting to mirror the Saudi petro states. Now that they’ve been cut off from the US/UK banking system and the third world cheap labor import network, they’ve heavily reinvested in aerospace, automotives, and other manufactured goods.

      The end result is a Russian economy that is outpacing all other “advanced economies” according to the IMF, with the fastest industrial growth its enjoyed in 18 years.

      They’re not just a bunch of aging mafiosos shaking down local businesses for spare change. They’re a trillion dollar economy with vast mineral wealth, enormous capital stocks, and a highly educated labor force. And they’re reasserting themselves in a way they haven’t done since glasnost and the end of the USSR.

      • Alborlin@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        Are you joking or are you a shill? All of Western world has multiple protections and amenities in place firmly yet. If you talkn about economy, where is the money? I mean we would not have stories about soldiers being asked to use tampons, dealing with North Korea out of all countries. Are you sure you are talking about v same russia we are seeing in 2024?

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          I linked directly to the IMF Report. Is the International Monetary Fund a shill for the Russian government, too?

      • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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        5 months ago

        China is about to dive into a shitshow of unseen proportions thanks to its 1 child policy in the past. The Chinese populace is set to shrink to 800 million in the next 50 or so years which will cause a shitload of economical problems for China. It’s the single biggest reason why China is prepping to invade Taiwan now because it’s either now or never, as in a decade from now it won’t be able to financially support said invasion. China could grow like crazy because of its cheap labour but those times are gone. Wages rose, wealth rose, and the advantages they had are gone. Now they will face a rapidly aging work force with way WAY too little people to replace the retirees that need taking care of.

        Russia is fucked. If they win the Ukraine Invasion, they are fucked, if they lose it, they are fucked. If they win, they’ll get an utterly destroyed country that needs some half trillion dollars of investment to be able to repair itself. Take with that that the Ukrainian people hated eachother before the war, yet now are more United than ever. Russia will face terrorism from there for a long time to come. If they lose, the world will keep blocking them until they pay said billions for Ukrainian repairs, and it will cost Putin his head.

        Meanwhile they had a huge outflux of knowledge and experience with loads of capable men fleeing the country to escape roundups to be sent to the front lines. They are currently running a war time economy which keeps them afloat until this war is over, then shit will start hitting fans everywhere.

        My take: China will slowly fade to a medium player over the next decades, Russia is on the brink of a heavy collapse. India is a big contender of being the next evil empire with its current leadership being a bunch of extremists.

        It would be nice if people toxoukd stop with the imerialistic bullshit and just start caring about all the people in the world. Listen to scientists, elect government officials that are actually responsible. Don’t go for crazy growth, it will come back to bite you in the ass.

          • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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            5 months ago

            Ooohhh you must be one of those tankies i keep hearing about…

            Lets not read the comment, lets just post a meme…? Great argument.

            None of what I said is particularly controversial, the Chinese population distribution is a shitshow in the making. But lets post a meme.

            You know what, good boy, you get an extra social point !

            • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              Ooohhh you must be one of those tankies i keep hearing about…

              the Chinese population distribution is a shitshow in the making

              A thing people have been repeating for centuries.

              • Phoenixz@lemmy.ca
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                5 months ago

                How about: no.

                Also how about: even China admits is a shit show, and they’re desperately trying to fix the issue by not only loosening the baby laws, they are actively pushing people to have babies and for some “unknown” reason they don’t wanna.

                Seriously, all toundo is post dumb memes and slogans.

                Are you 14 or something? I thought I was talking to an adult but I seem to have been mistaken

                • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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                  5 months ago

                  even China admits is a shit show

                  Go ahead. Lets see your work. Are you referring to a specific statement or is this bluster?

                  they’re desperately trying to fix the issue by not only loosening the baby laws, they are actively pushing people to have babies

                  They’ve been ratcheting and loosening their One Child Policy (now closer to a 2.3 Child Policy) for half a century. But then so has every other country with a functioning census bureau.

                  all toundo is post dumb memes and slogans

                  Westerners were outright panicked about “Overpopulation” for half my adult life. Then the 2008 financial crash happened and someone noticed a change in the second derivative of population trends. And now we get an article a week about how we’ll be entirely babyless inside the next generation.

                  Are you 14 or something?

                  That would make me, what? Three years your senior? Show some respect.

    • uis@lemm.ee
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      6 months ago

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

      • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
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        6 months ago

        One could argue that the USSR as a dictatorship is not much different than modern Russia as a dictatorship, and that claims of communism contradict the reality of the Stalin era, but there are certainly a lot of nuance that I’m avoiding with such a statement.

        • uis@lemm.ee
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          6 months ago

          One could argue that the USSR as a dictatorship is not much different than modern Russia as a dictatorship

          Totalitarian and autoritarian dictatorships work differently. USSR promised better future and mostly delivered with occasional purges during Stalin era, while Putinism promises stagnation at best. First was ultrareformist, while second is ultraconservative, even regressional. First collapsed from stagnation of 80-ies, second is still going.

          and that claims of communism contradict the reality of the Stalin era

          Indeed, Stalin era is opposite of being soviet(parlamentary) and socialist.