Full disclosure: I'm a civil libertarian through and through and would do everything possible to opt out of any sort of system. On the face of it, China gamifying political correctness is dystopian as hell.

BUT

China's been a dystopia for a while. Long has life been cheap and the Chinese system of neighbors ratting you out for political favor predates Mao by generations. The sociopolitical system of China is not one that celebrates diversity or ingenuity; Jared Diamond observed that inventions and innovations of the East rocketed through the West because the West placed a premium on change while the East placed a premium on stability. Gunpowder came to Europe and reshaped the political landscape because European culture rewards those who tinker. Gunpowder was invented in China and was used for displays because Chinese culture rewards those who maintain the status quo.

BESIDES

If you read an article on CBSNews.com that said the Chinese were creating "correctness scores" on their citizens using large corporations and data mining, you'd say "well, duh" because that's the sort of thing we've come to expect from oppressive totalitarian regimes. Shit, that's the sort of thing you'd expect in the land of the free, home of the brave. Pretty sure some kid named Eddie Snowbird accused the FBI of something like that or something. What's rustling jimmies here is they're making the score public.

Think about that: this is the government saying "attention, citizen, your DoublePlusGood score is veering dangerously low, best watch your mouth when speaking ill of the Party!" There's really only one reason for a totalitarian regime to do that: They don't want to have to deal with your shit.

China is not a place free of political oppression. However, an Oppression Readiness Score isn't how you increase oppression. It's how you decrease enforcement. At least, on the networks where it applies.

You think the Chinese don't have Tor?