For those interested in what can happen, I'd recommend watching Psycho-Pass [0], which revolves entirely around a civilization with citizen score. Good stuff happens (nobody locks their homes anymore), but potential criminals are taken out with no form of judgement whatsoever (à la Minority Report).

Edit: and also, shorter and not any less scary, that one episode of Black Mirror [1]

[0] https://myanimelist.net/anime/13601/psycho-pass

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nosedive_(Black_Mirror)

There was a similar theme in an episode of Star Trek the Next Generation [1]. They visited what appeared to be a utopian planet with everyone dressed in skimpy outfits, landscape was beautiful, people were super friendly. The ships chief medical officers son Wesley tripped over a small fence around a garden after convincing other teenagers to play catch and guards showed up to euthanize him for breaking the rules.

[1] - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_(Star_Trek:_The_Next_G...

Forgot to add the link to the scene [2]

[2] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfqa596xxbc

Great show in general, but it might not be a good start for someone who is not familiar with anime.

I'm curious how this is worse then what the United States does, for example. Nearly all the "crimes" listed here can be punished with jail in the U.S., which is obviously way worse, and far more violent.

"Social credit offences range from [...] to spreading false information" - this is what it's really about. Force citizens to spread government propaganda and make it impossible to challenge those in power.

The United States also maintains a secret list of persons banned from air travel.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_Fly_List

Is it a crime to use VPN and encrypt internet traffic in the US? Is it a crime to criticize the political party in power?

> Is it a crime to criticize the political party in power?

In most of the western united states, you can be ostracized for supporting the current federal govt.

You think your peers not respecting your political stance is the same as the government putting you in prison for criticizing them?