Entertainment news Celebrity gossip Movie and TV show updates Latest celebrity news Trending entertainment stories
They never knew they were being filmed — on subway trains, in mall fitting rooms, on university campuses, at home.
Since late June, a Chinese-language Telegram group chat named “MaskPark Treehole Forum,” reportedly with over 103,000 members, has sparked outrage on Chinese social media for circulating obscene covert footage.
Secret intimate recordings of women and individuals having sex were captured using hidden cameras disguised as screws, power sockets, and even bottles of toilet cleaner — and those sharing them could be a colleague, a classmate, or even a family member.
The revelations triggered widespread outrage on Chinese social media, drawing broad coverage from domestic news outlets.
State-backed outlet Guangming Daily called the case “exceptionally egregious” and urged swift regulatory action in a commentary, saying: “Regulators must move faster to fill the gaps, and law enforcement mechanisms need to be strengthened. Only by doing so can we enhance the overall sense of security, free women from the fear of being watched, and make the boundaries of privacy truly inviolable.”
In the open
On July 24, hashtags relating to the forum began trending on China’s microblogging platform Weibo, following an investigative report by domestic outlet Southern Metropolis Daily.
The original MaskPark Treehole Forum was hosted on the encrypted messaging app Telegram and could be accessed by anyone with an associated link. Telegram is not available for direct download on the Chinese mainland.
Once inside, users were presented with at least 20 themed channels, including “female classmates and colleagues,” “brides in wedding dresses,” and “lingerie,” according to photo evidence circulating online.
The content reportedly involves not only strangers but also the girlfriends, wives, mothers, and even daughters of group members. In numerous cases, content was shared alongside the corresponding women’s contact information, making it a potential hub for blackmail. Deepfaked nudes were also distributed in the group.
It remains unclear who founded the group or if core contributors of the voyeuristic content exist. And while chat records indicate users used simplified Chinese to communicate, it is unclear whether all users are based on the Chinese mainland — where the language is predominantly used.
Members on occasion mentioned their hometowns, which spanned provinces across the country, as well as their ages. They include everyone from middle-aged men to those in their 20s and even underage high school students, according to domestic media Fengmian News.
Fengmian News quoted TGStat, a Telegram data analytics platform, as showing that Maskpark was established in June 2021 and gained 310,000 followers before being taken down in December 2024.
This March, the group reappeared under a new account and gained 80,000 followers in just four months. On average, each post received 35,000 views, with daily traffic reaching 400,000 visits. But these figures have not been cross-verified, Fengmian News added.
A thriving market
One source, surnamed Chen, told Southern Metropolis Daily that some of the intimate videos were being monetized, and that a side industry had emerged around selling hidden surveillance devices. Chen said they joined the forum to collect evidence and requested anonymity for safety reasons.
Photos provided by Chen show a related group with 220,000 subscribers dedicated to selling disguised pinhole cameras. In the group, everyday items such as electric toothbrushes, air diffusers, water bottles, and electrical plugs converted into covert recording tools are sold for between 600 and 1,000 yuan ($80-$140).
These devices were then used to collect voyeuristic footage — some of which involved children — in places such as women’s ultrasound rooms, public restrooms, subways, and shopping malls.
Another anonymous source cited by Southern Metropolis Daily identified herself as a victim of the hidden-camera footage.
In May, she received a message from a stranger claiming to have intimate videos and photos of her, along with a link to the MaskPark Treehole Forum.
She told how she was “shocked” to discover the content, later realizing that it was her ex-boyfriend who had leaked it. He had also exchanged private videos and pictures of her, along with links to her social media accounts, with at least three strangers from the group chat via direct message.
It was at that point that the victim realized “Members were trading private information of their girlfriends,” as well as, by her estimates, those of strangers, a 10-year-old sister, a 20-year-old girlfriend, a 50-year-old mother-in-law, she later told Fengmian News.
At the time she was made aware of the forum, her ex had already immigrated to Canada and become a Canadian citizen, later moving to the United States for work. She contacted the Internet Crime Complaint Center in the United States, but the case went nowhere. She suspects that after she confronted him, he deleted any evidence. “These overseas platforms don’t leave traces,” she added.
She also reported the case to the Cyberspace Administration of China. A police officer working for the administration later told her that registration on these platforms only requires a virtual phone number, with no real-name checks, making it difficult to track down those responsible.
Moreover, the forum’s block on screenshots, message forwarding, and auto-deletion of content and chat logs have made gathering evidence extremely difficult.
Even more alarming, the victim said, was the speed of the group’s expansion. When she first joined in early May, there were just over 80,000 members. By late June, that number had surpassed 103,000.
“The notification pop-ups kept going off around the clock. There were thousands of messages a day,” she told Fengmian News.
“Don’t be afraid”
After posts exposing the group went viral on Chinese social media platforms like lifestyle platform Xiaohongshu, known globally as RedNote, and Weibo, the original forum was shut down on July 19.
But a backup version of the group remains active, with nearly 90,000 subscribers.
Fengmian News cited an official notice recorded on TGStat, which says the forum “has been set to private due to recent public attention” and now “operates on a member-invitation basis with two-way communication.”
Similar smaller groups, as well as the forum selling hidden cameras, continue unabated, Chen told Southern Metropolis Daily.
The case highlights the challenges of pursuing justice for crimes committed on overseas platforms, said Su Ruonan, a lawyer at Guangdong Tianlu Mengde Law Firm.
“Cross-border investigations rely on international judicial cooperation,” Su said. “The process is often lengthy and complicated, and can be affected by bilateral relations.”
“Even if the perpetrator is a foreign national and the act took place abroad, it still infringes on the legal rights of Chinese citizens, and the content may spread to China. Therefore, China retains jurisdiction over such cases,” she added.
Su advised victims to preserve as much evidence as possible, seek notarization to secure it, and report incidents to local Chinese police.
Once a case is filed in China, police can initiate procedures for international criminal judicial assistance, said Su.
Chinese authorities have previously launched multiple campaigns to crack down on illegal filming, hidden surveillance equipment, and online vendors selling such devices.
In February 2025, China’s State Council issued new national regulations on video surveillance.
Under the new rules, individuals who install hidden cameras illegally may face fines of up to 20,000 yuan ($2,790), and business owners are required to conduct regular inspections of sensitive areas under their management.
According to Su, China’s criminal law stipulates that those who secretly film or disseminate such content may face up to two years in prison if the case is deemed serious.
But Ding Jinkun, a lawyer at Shanghai DeBundDabang Law Firm, told Fengmian News that this punishment only applies when the person uses equipment specifically modified for covert filming — not regular cameras.
In most cases, he said, those caught secretly recording others face at most 10 days of detention or a 500-yuan fine — even if the footage involves private body parts. Ding called the current penalties too lenient and urged that all forms of covert filming, regardless of the device used, be treated as criminal offenses.
If the pornographic material is monetized and perpetrators make over 5,000 yuan, the charge escalates to “spreading obscene materials for profit.” Over 125,000 yuan qualifies as “especially serious,” with a possible 10-year sentence or even life imprisonment.
Speaking to Southern Metropolis Daily, the victim of the hidden-camera forum said, “Don’t be afraid. Don’t blame yourself.”
“If your private images have been spread or you’ve been a victim of any form of sexual abuse, I hope you try to speak out and seek justice. As victims, we have nothing to be ashamed of. The ones who should be afraid are the criminals — the cockroaches hiding behind their ‘masks,’ doing these filthy things.”
Editor: Tom Arnstein.
(Header image: VCG)
