Women in China call for action over exploitative content on Telegram channels

Australia Broadcast Center

6 days ago

When Macau resident Ms Lin found out about the MaskPark Telegram channel, she decided to do what she could to warn other women.
The channel — in which tens of thousands of men shared exploitative images of Chinese women without their consent — made headlines around the world last month.
But in China it caused barely a ripple.
No major state media reported on the scandal and the government remained silent.
While Telegram — an encrypted chat app based in Russia — shut down the main MaskPark channel, subgroups continued to share similar material.
So Ms Lin and many other Chinese women began their own investigations, calling on media outside China to pay attention to their story.
"I have many videos on my phone that could serve as evidence, but they are too explicit to be seen," Ms Lin, who would only give her surname, told the ABC.
"One clip shows women being secretly filmed in shopping mall restrooms. It's creepy and disgusting."
The Telegram app allows users to send encrypted and self-destructing messages, as well as share images, videos, and other types of files.
Although it is banned in mainland China, people can still access it through VPNs.
The MaskPark channel reportedly attracted more than 100,000 subscribers.
Most of the footage in the channel's group chats was filmed in public places, including on underground trains, in fitting rooms in shopping malls — even in ultrasound rooms in hospitals.
Some was filmed in women's homes and shared by people who had intimate relationships with the victims.
Users also shared victims' personal information — including full names, ID numbers, and home addresses — and offered surveillance equipment like hidden cameras for sale.
Other Telegram sub-forums targeting Chinese-speaking users with pornographic content had as many as 900,000 members, the Southern Daily newspaper in China reported.
"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.
Wang Pan, a scholar of Chinese social media and pop culture at the University of New South Wales, said the MaskPark victims were mostly everyday women.
"Their bodies and privacy were used as satisfaction for male desires and tools for profit," Professor Wang said.
Some women looked outside of China in the hopes that international pressure might force the government to act.
One blogger on the social platform RedNote, also known as Xiaohongshu, created an English-language video about the scandal.
She called on viewers to share it on international social platforms.
"This is a serious issue, but it's not getting enough attention in China," the blogger, who wished to remain anonymous, told the ABC.
Another group of women put together a 200-page presentation and sent it to international media.
Not only is the government not taking action against the perpetrators of the MaskPark channel, the women trying to warn others say it's actively hampering them.
After the MaskPark incident surfaced, the tag China's Nth Room spread across Chinese social media.
The Nth Room scandal was a South Korean criminal case in which women and minors were blackmailed into sharing sexually exploitative content, which was then distributed in encrypted Telegram chatrooms.
However, some users noticed that Chinese social media platforms such as Weibo and RedNote censored related posts.
One woman said on Weibo that she initially tried to expose the issue on RedNote, but her account was permanently banned after posting.
She then turned to Weibo, where her posts were quickly restricted and could no longer be shared.
Other people who posted the incident on RedNote said their content was throttled or deleted by the platform.
Ms Lin said she grew frustrated and angry when she saw that some of her posts were being deleted.
"If we can't even share such information, is there any point for this platform to exist?" Ms Lin said.
"I just cannot believe it.
"I don't know if [the government of] this country doesn't know about this or doesn't care, or — for whatever reason — doesn't want the issue to get any public attention."
Ms C, identified by a pseudonym at the interviewee's request, published a post on RedNote warning the public about pinhole cameras after the MaskPark incident.
The post quickly received tens of thousands of comments, but most of them were deleted by the platform overnight.
"When I checked on the morning of July 25, only about 90 comments remained," she told the ABC.
The post was then hidden by RedNote, with only the author able to see it.
Weibo and RedNote did not respond to ABC's request for comments.
Professor Wang Pan said the Chinese government had not completely censored the MaskPark incident, so users may still be able to speak out.
"Posts that criticise the government, challenge core values [of Chinese society], or incite public emotion are more likely to be censored," she said.
"Content moderation tends to be tighter when facts are still unclear."
The ABC contacted China's Cyberspace Administration of China for comment.
A Telegram spokesperson said the sharing of non-consensual pornography was explicitly forbidden and posts were "removed" when discovered.
He said the MaskPark group was removed from Telegram in 2024.
"Moderators continue to monitor the platform proactively and accept user reports, so that if such groups ever resurface, they are immediately removed once more," he said.
However, Professor Wang said Telegram's approach was "somewhat putting the onus on the users".
"I'm sure technically they can shut down those groups [similar to MaskPark]."
Professor Wang said the Chinese government also needed to strengthen efforts against voyeuristic crimes by enhancing platform oversight, cracking down on the adult content industry, and improving protections for vulnerable groups.
She said better reporting mechanisms and more frequent inspections of public places to prevent hidden cameras would help.
"Authorities must find ways to trace anonymous users, even if they are from overseas platforms," she said.
"Victims need to continue to speak out … [their] firsthand accounts, and clues from the information they provide are likely to lead to the perpetrators, so their voices must not be silenced."
Experts also suggested victims keep evidence of foreign web pages, and take clear screenshots or recordings of chat group information.
Despite the efforts of women like Ms Lin, it appears unlikely that any action will be taken against those responsible for the MaskPark channel.
Chinese lawyer Su Ruonan told the Southern Metropolis Daily that cross-border offence detection could be difficult for Chinese police.
"As national sovereignty is involved, Chinese police cannot go to, for example, the United States to arrest a person or access the evidence in his computer or mobile phone," Ms Su said.
"It requires international judicial collaboration.
"But the process is very complex and lengthy, and can also be affected by things like the bilateral relationship between the two countries."
RedNote influencer Esther Feng knows firsthand how difficult it can be to get redress in these types of situations.
In late 2024, Ms Feng discovered an X account was created using her selfie as the profile photo and a sexually explicit image as the background banner.
The account published a dozen posts using Ms Feng's photos, with offensive tags.
"I was completely stunned and then overwhelmed with rage," Ms Feng said.
"In my case, the investigation was extremely difficult. There was little the Chinese police could do."
Ms Feng spoke out on RedNote after learning about the MaskPark case.
"Girls are in a difficult situation now," Ms Feng said.
"If they don't know you, they might secretly film you in a hotel or on the street. If they do know you, your private photos on social media might be used without consent."
ABC/Reuters