Theorising quantified credibility in the age of big data: a case of China’s Social Credit System

Abstract

In this paper, I theoretically examine the concept of quantified credibility in sociology. I argue that quantified credibility has components of status, reputation, and trust, which are arbitrations of rankings of individuals, public and private institutions to determine their trustworthiness, legitimacy, and access to resources. To illustrate the above, this paper provides an in-depth analysis of China’s Social Credit System (SOCS), as it is developing into one of the largest and comprehensive data systems in the world.