A man who frequently watched adult content filmed without consent was horrified when he discovered a video featuring himself and his girlfriend engaged in intimate acts.
Known as ‘Eric’, this individual regularly accessed various Telegram channels that streamed videos and live feeds from people’s hotel rooms, exposing their private moments to a vast online audience.
In 2023, three weeks after staying in a hotel in Shenzhen, China, with his girlfriend ‘Emily’, Eric was browsing Telegram and stumbled upon a video showing a couple in a room that looked unsettlingly familiar. It dawned on him that he had unknowingly become a victim of the very invasion of privacy he consumed.
Eric’s experience came to light during an investigation conducted by BBC’s Global China Unit, which uncovered the widespread use of tiny hidden cameras, often as discreet as a pencil eraser, secretly capturing footage in countless hotel rooms and victimizing numerous guests by turning their privacy into explicit content.
For over a decade, the issue of non-consensual voyeuristic recordings of individuals has plagued cities across China, according to the investigation’s findings.
With the proliferation of social media, these illicit recordings are reaching a wider audience, despite China’s strict prohibition of pornography. The law seems to have little effect on those distributing such content.
In response, residents, particularly women, have taken proactive measures, including sharing advice on social media for detecting hidden cameras and even setting up tents in hotel rooms to avoid being filmed.
Despite China’s efforts to curb this practice by mandating regular checks for hidden cameras, the illegal and unethical breach of hotel guests’ privacy persists.
Now in his 30s, Eric has ceased watching such videos. He initially found them appealing for their ‘raw’ and authentic nature, in contrast to the staged feel of traditional adult content.
He explained to the BBC: “What drew me in is the fact that the people don’t know they’re being filmed. I think traditional porn feels very staged, very fake.”
When Eric informed his girlfriend about their recorded encounter in Shenzhen, she initially dismissed it as a joke until she saw the video herself.
Eric had to clarify how he discovered the footage on a specific Telegram channel, while Emily worried about the public exposure of their private moment. Their relationship was strained, and they refrained from speaking for weeks.
Unfortunately, their ordeal is not isolated, as the use of hotel spy cams has evolved into a thriving underground industry. BBC investigators identified a distributor, known as AKA, who charged users a $65 monthly fee for access to the explicit content.
One such channel boasted 10,000 active members, with viewers commenting on livestreams of unaware couples, often using derogatory and misogynistic language to describe the women being violated.