{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,21]],"date-time":"2026-05-21T08:02:41Z","timestamp":1779350561266,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"SAGE Publications","issue":"7","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2019,2,13]],"date-time":"2019-02-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1550016000000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/journals.sagepub.com\/page\/policies\/text-and-data-mining-license"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["journals.sagepub.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["New Media &amp; Society"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,7]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>A variety of commercial and local government social credit systems (SCSs) are now being implemented in China in order to steer the behavior of Chinese individuals, businesses, social organizations, and government agencies. Previous research finds that these SCSs are employed by the Chinese state as \u201csurveillance infrastructure\u201d and for social management. This article focuses on a different angle: the public\u2019s opinion of SCSs. Based on a cross-regional survey, the study finds a surprisingly high degree of approval of SCSs across respondent groups. Interestingly, more socially advantaged citizens (wealthier, better-educated, and urban residents) show the strongest approval of SCSs, along with older people. While one might expect such knowledgeable citizens to be most concerned about the privacy implications of SCS, they instead appear to embrace SCSs because they interpret it through frames of benefit-generation and promoting honest dealings in society and the economy instead of privacy-violation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1177\/1461444819826402","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,2,13]],"date-time":"2019-02-13T11:40:25Z","timestamp":1550058025000},"page":"1565-1593","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/sage-journals-update-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":208,"title":["China\u2019s social credit systems and public opinion: Explaining high levels of approval"],"prefix":"10.1177","volume":"21","author":[{"given":"Genia","family":"Kostka","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Freie Universit\u00e4t Berlin, Germany"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"179","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2019,2,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"bibr1-1461444819826402","unstructured":"Ahmed S (2017a) Consumer protection oversights in the Chinese social credit system, Digital credit observatory. 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