As clever as you think you're being, it is an important difference.
Mostly because in the US you can choose not to use it, in china choosing not to use it affects your social credit score, and whether you can buy a house or ride the bus.
Slight difference in potential consequences for benign behavior.
I don't know if the US is that far ahead here - we have the regular credit score which is used for all sorts of stuff it really ought't be. And it's proprietary, so honestly who knows what goes into it. We just get hidden companies rather than the government - and often the government hides behind the companies so they don't have to do pesky things like get a warrant. I'm not sure which is better.
But the layer of obscurity at least gives the illusion they aren't supposed to abuse it so much, which helps massively during breaches or trying to get your data or have it deleted.
I doubt any of that is even possible in china (i have no citation for this)
The social credit score is mandatory, and what you watch on it is absolutely used to adjust your credit score.
So no, i don't have a direct source that says "you must use this app or your credit score goes down", i have a reasonable informed idea that it probably does, based on china's current treatment of it's citizens.
Why, do you happen to a single or any even tangentially related source pretending it doesn't?
No of course you can't opt out of the social credit score.
what you watch on it is absolutely used to adjust your credit score.
And yet another bold claim that you are even being so bold as to say is absolutely true. Do you have evidence for this one, either?
I'm asking you to defend your claim that not using TikTok specifically affects your social credit score.
So no, i don’t have a direct source that says “you must use this app or your credit score goes down”, i have a reasonable informed idea that it probably does, based on china’s current treatment of it’s citizens.
This absolutely doesn't follow. Can you elaborate on your logic here? There is no obvious line of reasoning from "china's current treatment of its citizens" to "TikTok is mandatory". Your imagination is not evidence of something.
Why, do you happen to a single or any even tangentially related source pretending it doesn’t?
I'm not the one asserting that failure to use TikTok negatively affects your social credit score; no, I can't find a source that explicitly states "not using TikTok doesn't affect your social credit score", because that's not how this works. You make a positive assertion you provide evidence to back that up.
The social credit score is mandatory, and what you watch on it is absolutely used to adjust your credit score.
So no, i don't have a direct source that says "you must use this app or your credit score goes down", i have a reasonable informed idea that it probably does, based on china's current treatment of it's citizens.
So basically you’re saying you have a hunch? What a bunch of nonsense.
Can you prove that Iraq doesn’t have weapons of mass destruction?