Huge Telegram Group Where Men Traded Non-Consensual Photos of Chinese Women is Exposed
Chinese social media has erupted with rage this week after a state-run newspaper revealed the existence of an encrypted Telegram chat group where sexually explicit photos — many filmed clandestinely — were shared with hundreds of thousands of users.
Reuters reports that the content in “MaskPark tree hole forum” contained non-consensual images and videos of women, some of which were secretly recorded in public spaces such as restrooms.
The Southern Daily newspaper, which exposed the group’s activities, noted that some users uploaded private content involving former partners or female family members. In some cases, videos filmed using tiny cameras were even sold within the chat groups.
One unnamed woman tells the paper, “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.” She learned of the group’s existence in May through an anonymous tip.
The issue quickly gained attention on Chinese social media. Hashtags discussing the case on Weibo, China’s largest microblogging platform, garnered over 270 million views. One commenter wrote, “It’s truly frightening how secret filming has infiltrated everyday life.”
Despite China’s stringent obscenity laws and heavily censored domestic internet, the sheer scale of the image sharing has surprised many. Accessing Telegram in China requires the use of VPN services, as the platform is officially blocked.
In addition to the MaskPark forum, Southern Daily reports that other Telegram sub-forums catering to Chinese-speaking users and distributing pornographic material had as many as 900,000 members. The report also reveals that some users were selling ordinary-looking objects, such as incense holders, outfitted with hidden cameras to covertly film women.
“This has heightened the concerns of many women, as voyeuristic incidents seem to be ubiquitous,” Huang Simin, a Chinese lawyer who specializes in cases involving sexual violence, tells Reuters. “I’ve noticed a general sense of powerlessness women feel with regard to legal protections, a feeling that there’s no effective way to address such incidents.”
While the main MaskPark group has reportedly been taken offline, smaller related groups remain active. A Telegram spokesperson tells Reuters, “The sharing of non-consensual pornography is explicitly forbidden by Telegram’s terms of service and is removed whenever discovered. 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.”
The case has drawn comparisons to South Korea’s high-profile “Nth room” scandal, in which at least 74 women, including minors, were blackmailed into producing explicit content for pay-to-view Telegram groups. The primary organizer in that case received a 40-year prison sentence in 2020.
Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.
