Stealth videos of young girls in skimpy attire raise legal, moral questions

A 24-year-old man identified only by the surname Xue was detained last week for filming videos of women in short skirts in public places and posting them online with indecent captions, but no criminal charges were laid.

A 41-year-old man who ejaculated onto a female passenger's clothing in a rush-hour Metro train was put in administrative detention, but the worst punishment he received was losing his job because of the publicity. Some online commentators questioned whether he was more sinned against than sinning.

These cases and similar ones have evoked public debate about anti-social behavior and whether the legal system has enough teeth to properly address it.

In the case of Xue, who was detained on the somewhat minor charge of posting the photos and suggestive texts, online comment clamored for heavier retribution.

"According to the Civil Code, whether filming passers-by constitutes a legal offence would be subject to the actual circumstances of whether the person in the photos can be identified and whether posting them constitutes use for illicit purposes," said Shen Guoyong, a veteran lawyer.

Shen added that another crucial factor is whether the perpetrator gained financially through the publication of the pictures.

Parents of young women are naturally concerned about such anti-social behavior.

In a radio station report, a father surnamed Lu reported that his 16-year-old daughter was secretly filmed on her way home from school. Later, a friend chanced upon the video on a blog channel and forwarded it to her. It was captioned: "School is over. This girl is nice."

The post received more than 300 "likes" and over 40 comments. Lu said it really upset his daughter and made her the unwanted center of attention at school.

"As a father, I'm angry," he said. "It's an invasion of privacy. I worry that it will have an adverse effect on my daughter's physical and mental health."

Lu scrutinized the blog channel, which has about 220,000 followers, and found many stealth videos of young girls on public transport, either wearing short skirts or asleep. They were accompanied by comments such as "nice view" or "isn't this girl good-looking?"

When he contacted the blogger and asked him to delete the video, the blogger refused but did remove the caption. Lu complained to the platform hosting the blogger asking the perpetrator be suspended. The video was removed but similar videos on the site remained.

Lu reported the matter to local police but was told that it's difficult to take legal action because the video didn't show "private body parts" or involve more outwardly offensive behavior.

The radio reporter who aired the case quoted the perpetrator as saying that he was aware he was sailing close to the wind by exploiting regulatory loopholes to attract more viewers.

Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, said on Friday that it launched investigation of the blog site and has banned the blogger. It's unclear whether Xue was the blogger.

On Anfu Road in Shanghai, a group of mostly retired photographers frequently gather to snap photos of passers-by, particularly skimpily clad young women.

A recent video that went viral showed an outraged woman venting her spleen against the cameramen, accusing them of "lacking self-respect" and indulging in an obsession with "the legs of the young girls."

One photographer is seen replying, "It's just my job."

Some legal professionals said stealth filming of people in public places might infringe on privacy laws and fall within the scope of civil torts.

It's a moral as well as legal issue. It's against the law to film "private body parts" without consent, but aren't uncovered legs private? Shouldn't the impact on the life, health and reputation of the victims of such surreptitious filming be considered in law?

Effectively banning public filming of people is difficult. Those who take videos and photographs argue that anyone who appears in public in skimpy clothing is fair game, and beyond that, obtaining prior consent might spoil the spontaneity of filming.

Given the ease with which individuals might share such compromising photos online, weeding out the bad apples remains a gargantuan undertaking.

Hence the calls for online platforms to vet content more closely and be legally accountable if it's uploaded.