China is well-known for the strict policy on public security. Since the economic reform in 1979, the goal of maintaining the general social stability was manifested in the official documents and government guideline. Such policy has generated both positive and negative effects in modern China. It is, on one hand, essential in order to provide a stable environment for the economy to grow without interruptions from malignant incidents in large scale; on the other hand, it has generated discontent as its enforcement was rigid and even inhumane for which it received backfire that worsen the situation. One of the most criticized measures taken to execute the policy is surveillance. The “Skynet Project” is a national surveillance network that deploys more than 20 million public security cameras all around the country. Administrated by the police department, the network aims to detect criminal activities and track fugitives. Public has long been concerned about the fact that theses camera, as they were installed everywhere, might invade individual’s privacy. But the officials claimed that these cameras were used solely for the purpose of maintaining security and that “if you did not do something wrong, you have nothing to worry about”. Despite such statement, the public are still worried that the information gathered through these surveillance might be used for other purposes. Indeed, the “Skynet Project” receives technological support from corporations like Tencent, Huawei, ZTE and Bytedance and so on. It is normal that the public might concern data leaks as a lot of these firms encountered before. The project also received backlash as these security cameras seem unreliable and malfunctioning every time the recorded incidents related to official institutes and government officials. There is a phrase “the surveillance was down” mentioned by Chinese netizens as social incidents being discussed on the Internet. It seems to become the excuse for government to hide the truth from the public. With such statement circulated frequently, public’s trust to the government and CCP deteriorates greatly.
The mass surveillance also expanded to school where students were observed during classes. In 2019, a high school in Guangzhou installed a surveillance system that can detect the facial expressions of students in order to find students who do not pay attention in class. When the news about the system came out Chinese Internet was shocked by how insensitively and inhumane the system operates. It treats students as objects that can only be defined by mere facial expressions.
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