While not an expert myself, when I have looked deeper into the reporting that makes claims like this, I often find that they're speculating based on one-off statements, not describing an actual extant system. I feel like the US media, even the most respectable publications, don't take appropriate care to separate fact from fiction re: social credit.

For example, I found this article really surprising: https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/11/16/chinas-orwellian-social...