Latest news with #privacyviolation
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Outrage in China after reports exploitative images of Chinese women shared in Telegram groups
By Laurie Chen BEIJING (Reuters) -Sexually exploitative images of Chinese women were shared in encrypted Telegram chat groups with hundreds of thousands of users, Chinese media reported, triggering widespread outrage online. A Chinese-language Telegram chat group named "MaskPark tree hole forum" shared images of women secretly taken or filmed in locations, including public toilets, with more than 100,000 anonymous users in China and overseas, said Chinese state-run newspaper Southern Daily, which first reported the chat groups' existence last week. Some users posted private images of their current or ex-girlfriends and female family members, the report said, and that some footage of women secretly filmed using pinhole cameras in public spaces was being sold in the chat groups. Hashtags related to the issue on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo gained more than 270 million views on Tuesday. "It's truly frightening how secret filming has infiltrated everyday life," read one comment. China has strict obscenity laws and regularly scrubs content deemed pornographic from its heavily-controlled domestic internet, so the scale of the image sharing has shocked many in China. People must use VPN software to access Telegram, which is blocked in China. Other Telegram sub-forums targeting Chinese-speaking users with pornographic content had as many as 900,000 members, the Southern Daily said. "My ex-boyfriend secretly took photos of me during sex, posted my private photos to the group without my permission and publicised my social media accounts," a female victim who was not named told the newspaper. She was alerted to the forum in May through an anonymous tip-off, adding that many of the chat group messages self-deleted and the images could not be saved or screenshotted due to the settings in the Telegram chat. Chatroom users also sold everyday objects, such as incense holders, fitted with pinhole cameras to secretly film women, according to chat records published in the report. "This has heightened the concerns of many women, as voyeuristic incidents seem to be ubiquitous," said Huang Simin, a Chinese lawyer who specialises in sexual violence cases. "I've noticed a general sense of powerlessness (women feel with regards to legal protections), a feeling that there's no effective way to address such incidents." The main MaskPark forum has been taken down but some smaller sub-forums remain active on Telegram, the Southern Daily said. "The sharing of non-consensual pornography is explicitly forbidden by Telegram's terms of service and is removed whenever discovered," a Telegram spokesperson told Reuters. "Moderators proactively monitor public parts of the platform and accept reports in order to remove millions of pieces of harmful content each day, including non-consensual pornography." SOUTH KOREA SCANDAL Chinese social media commenters likened the incident to South Korea's "Nth room" scandal, where operators of pay-to-view Telegram chatrooms blackmailed at least 74 women, including underage girls, into sharing sexually explicit images of themselves with tens of thousands of users. The case sparked a national outcry in South Korea and the main ringleader was sentenced to 40 years in prison in 2020. "Compared to the 'Nth room' incident, the evil of MaskPark is even more normalised and diffuse. There is no single principal offender and users share images for 'pleasure' not profit," read one Weibo post with more than 14,000 likes. Chatroom users who posted images can be investigated under Chinese law for "producing, selling and disseminating obscene materials for profit" as well as "illegally using special equipment for eavesdropping and taking non-consensual photos," said Huang. But the offences of secret filming and photography carry relatively light punishments if the content is not deemed obscene, she added, with a fine of up to 500 yuan ($69.68) and 10 days' administrative detention for serious cases. It is also difficult for Chinese police to punish offenders over MaskPark because Telegram is encrypted and hosted overseas, said a Chinese legal researcher who requested anonymity for reasons of sensitivity. "Criminal cases require a high evidence threshold, so disseminating intimate images often remains difficult to prosecute due to insufficient evidence," they said. "There are no specific regulations regarding the dissemination of intimate images of adult women." Both lawyers called for stronger government regulatory oversight of gender-based abuse on online platforms. "I hope that China will develop criminal laws to regulate carrying out voyeurism and sexual violence through visual imagery in the future," said Huang. ($1 = 7.1755 Chinese yuan renminbi)
Malay Mail
9 hours ago
- Malay Mail
‘Truly frightening': Outrage in China over secretly filmed images of women in public toilets shared in massive Telegram groups
BEIJING, July 29 — Sexually exploitative images of Chinese women were shared in encrypted Telegram chat groups with hundreds of thousands of users, Chinese media reported, triggering widespread outrage online. A Chinese-language Telegram chat group named 'MaskPark tree hole forum' shared images of women secretly taken or filmed in locations, including public toilets, with more than 100,000 anonymous users in China and overseas, said Chinese state-run newspaper Southern Daily, which first reported the chat groups' existence last week. Some users posted private images of their current or ex-girlfriends and female family members, the report said, and that some footage of women secretly filmed using pinhole cameras in public spaces was being sold in the chat groups. Hashtags related to the issue on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo gained more than 270 million views on Tuesday. 'It's truly frightening how secret filming has infiltrated everyday life,' read one comment. China has strict obscenity laws and regularly scrubs content deemed pornographic from its heavily-controlled domestic internet, so the scale of the image sharing has shocked many in China. People must use VPN software to access Telegram, which is blocked in China. Other Telegram sub-forums targeting Chinese-speaking users with pornographic content had as many as 900,000 members, the Southern Daily said. 'My ex-boyfriend secretly took photos of me during sex, posted my private photos to the group without my permission and publicised my social media accounts,' a female victim who was not named told the newspaper. She was alerted to the forum in May through an anonymous tip-off, adding that many of the chat group messages self-deleted and the images could not be saved or screenshotted due to the settings in the Telegram chat. Chatroom users also sold everyday objects, such as incense holders, fitted with pinhole cameras to secretly film women, according to chat records published in the report. 'This has heightened the concerns of many women, as voyeuristic incidents seem to be ubiquitous,' said Huang Simin, a Chinese lawyer who specialises in sexual violence cases. 'I've noticed a general sense of powerlessness (women feel with regards to legal protections), a feeling that there's no effective way to address such incidents.' The main MaskPark forum has been taken down but some smaller sub-forums remain active on Telegram, the Southern Daily said. 'The sharing of non-consensual pornography is explicitly forbidden by Telegram's terms of service and is removed whenever discovered,' a Telegram spokesperson told Reuters. 'Moderators proactively monitor public parts of the platform and accept reports in order to remove millions of pieces of harmful content each day, including non-consensual pornography.' South Korea scandal Chinese social media commenters likened the incident to South Korea's 'Nth room' scandal, where operators of pay-to-view Telegram chatrooms blackmailed at least 74 women, including underage girls, into sharing sexually explicit images of themselves with tens of thousands of users. The case sparked a national outcry in South Korea and the main ringleader was sentenced to 40 years in prison in 2020. 'Compared to the 'Nth room' incident, the evil of MaskPark is even more normalised and diffuse. There is no single principal offender and users share images for 'pleasure' not profit,' read one Weibo post with more than 14,000 likes. Chatroom users who posted images can be investigated under Chinese law for 'producing, selling and disseminating obscene materials for profit' as well as 'illegally using special equipment for eavesdropping and taking non-consensual photos,' said Huang. But the offences of secret filming and photography carry relatively light punishments if the content is not deemed obscene, she added, with a fine of up to 500 yuan (RM295) and 10 days' administrative detention for serious cases. It is also difficult for Chinese police to punish offenders over MaskPark because Telegram is encrypted and hosted overseas, said a Chinese legal researcher who requested anonymity for reasons of sensitivity. 'Criminal cases require a high evidence threshold, so disseminating intimate images often remains difficult to prosecute due to insufficient evidence,' they said. 'There are no specific regulations regarding the dissemination of intimate images of adult women.' Both lawyers called for stronger government regulatory oversight of gender-based abuse on online platforms. 'I hope that China will develop criminal laws to regulate carrying out voyeurism and sexual violence through visual imagery in the future,' said Huang. — Reuters
CNA
10 hours ago
- CNA
Outrage in China after reports exploitative images of Chinese women shared in Telegram groups
BEIJING: Sexually exploitative images of Chinese women were shared in encrypted Telegram chat groups with hundreds of thousands of users, Chinese media reported, triggering widespread outrage online. A Chinese-language Telegram chat group named "MaskPark tree hole forum" shared images of women secretly taken or filmed in locations, including public toilets, with more than 100,000 anonymous users in China and overseas, said Chinese state-run newspaper Southern Daily, which first reported the chat groups' existence last week. Some users posted private images of their current or ex-girlfriends and female family members, the report said, and that some footage of women secretly filmed using pinhole cameras in public spaces was being sold in the chat groups. Hashtags related to the issue on Chinese microblogging platform Weibo gained more than 270 million views on Tuesday (Jul 29). "It's truly frightening how secret filming has infiltrated everyday life," read one comment. China has strict obscenity laws and regularly scrubs content deemed pornographic from its heavily-controlled domestic internet, so the scale of the image sharing has shocked many in China. People must use VPN software to access Telegram, which is blocked in China. Other Telegram sub-forums targeting Chinese-speaking users with pornographic content had as many as 900,000 members, the Southern Daily said. "My ex-boyfriend secretly took photos of me during sex, posted my private photos to the group without my permission and publicised my social media accounts," a female victim who was not named told the newspaper. She was alerted to the forum in May through an anonymous tip-off, adding that many of the chat group messages self-deleted and the images could not be saved or screenshotted due to the settings in the Telegram chat. Chatroom users also sold everyday objects, such as incense holders, fitted with pinhole cameras to secretly film women, according to chat records published in the report. "This has heightened the concerns of many women, as voyeuristic incidents seem to be ubiquitous," said Huang Simin, a Chinese lawyer who specialises in sexual violence cases. "I've noticed a general sense of powerlessness (women feel with regards to legal protections), a feeling that there's no effective way to address such incidents." The main MaskPark forum has been taken down but some smaller sub-forums remain active on Telegram, the Southern Daily said. "The sharing of non-consensual pornography is explicitly forbidden by Telegram's terms of service and is removed whenever discovered," a Telegram spokesperson told Reuters. "Moderators proactively monitor public parts of the platform and accept reports in order to remove millions of pieces of harmful content each day, including non-consensual pornography." SOUTH KOREA SCANDAL Chinese social media commenters likened the incident to South Korea's "Nth room" scandal, where operators of pay-to-view Telegram chatrooms blackmailed at least 74 women, including underage girls, into sharing sexually explicit images of themselves with tens of thousands of users. The case sparked a national outcry in South Korea and the main ringleader was sentenced to 40 years in prison in 2020. "Compared to the 'Nth room' incident, the evil of MaskPark is even more normalised and diffuse. There is no single principal offender and users share images for 'pleasure' not profit," read one Weibo post with more than 14,000 likes. Chatroom users who posted images can be investigated under Chinese law for "producing, selling and disseminating obscene materials for profit" as well as "illegally using special equipment for eavesdropping and taking non-consensual photos," said Huang. But the offences of secret filming and photography carry relatively light punishments if the content is not deemed obscene, she added, with a fine of up to 500 yuan ($69.68) and 10 days' administrative detention for serious cases. It is also difficult for Chinese police to punish offenders over MaskPark because Telegram is encrypted and hosted overseas, said a Chinese legal researcher who requested anonymity for reasons of sensitivity. "Criminal cases require a high evidence threshold, so disseminating intimate images often remains difficult to prosecute due to insufficient evidence," they said. "There are no specific regulations regarding the dissemination of intimate images of adult women." Both lawyers called for stronger government regulatory oversight of gender-based abuse on online platforms.
CNA
6 days ago
- CNA
Phone repairman who sent himself explicit images from 5 customers' phones gets jail
SINGAPORE: A man tasked with repairing customers' mobile phones transferred explicit or intimate images to himself and was caught only when a customer's husband discovered his wife's photos had been forwarded. Low Jwen Sern, a 27-year-old Malaysian, was sentenced to six months' jail on Thursday (Jul 24). He pleaded guilty to one count of possessing intimate images without consent, with another four charges taken into consideration. The court heard that Low was a sales assistant at Fangli Trading, a phone repair shop at Block 727, Clementi West Street 2. From 2022 to 2024, Low routinely browsed customers' devices left for repair. He looked through private messages and photo galleries for intimate and explicit content of women. When he found such images or videos, he would forward them to his own device, mostly using the AirDrop function on Apple phones, and keep them "for his own sexual pleasure", the court heard. CAUGHT BY A PROMPT On Sep 23 last year, a man left his Android phone at the shop to fix a charging issue. Two days later, after the repair was completed, Low accessed the phone's photo gallery and WhatsApp chats. He found between 12 and 15 intimate images of the man's wife – some showing her in lingerie, others nude, with her face visible. As it was an Android phone without the AirDrop function, Low used a Bluetooth transfer feature to send the images to his company phone, before forwarding them via WhatsApp to his personal iPhone. When the victim's husband collected his phone, he noticed a prompt indicating the images had been forwarded. The couple were outraged and distressed, and the husband lodged a police report. Investigations found that Low had transferred at least 71 intimate or explicit photos and eight videos from five customers. He admitted there were others, but could not recall details as he had deleted the media. His actions went undetected for years because Apple devices do not maintain a log of AirDrop transfers, the court heard. Deputy Public Prosecutor Jeremy Bin sought a jail term of six to seven months. He said Low engaged in surreptitious conduct to obtain the content without the victims' knowledge or consent. "Furthermore, given that smartphones are now ubiquitous and getting cheaper to acquire, it has resulted in it becoming easier for like-minded offenders to prey on unsuspecting victims for their personal gratification," he said. Mr Bin also cited an investigative report by CNA that found three in 10 phone repair shops had accessed private data on customers' devices without permission, saying it appears to be a widespread problem that is difficult to detect. Low had deliberately targeted Apple devices to evade detection, showing clear premeditation, he added.
Malay Mail
7 days ago
- Malay Mail
BTS flight data leak: South Korea probes airline staff, two others over celeb privacy breach
SEOUL, July 23 — Three individuals, including an employee of a foreign airline, have reportedly been referred for prosecution in South Korea for allegedly acquiring and selling the flight details of celebrities, including members of BTS. According to a report in The Korea Herald, the airline staff member is suspected of accessing internal systems to obtain the information and passing it to others, who then sold it via social media channels. Citing industry sources, the report said the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency found evidence of both unauthorised access and financial transactions worth tens of millions of won. Entertainment company Hybe, which represents BTS, was said to have played a key role in advancing the investigation by monitoring online activity and submitting evidence to authorities. 'We maintain a zero-tolerance policy toward crimes that commercialize and traffic in artists' personal information,' Hybe reportedly said. The case has raised fresh concerns over repeated privacy violations by 'sasaeng' fans who attempt to track celebrities during flights, according to the report.
