The disturbing rise of hotel spy-cam porn in China has left victims like ‘Eric’ traumatised after he told of the devastating impact it had on him and his partner
A randy couple that had sex in a hotel room in China had their intimate moment broadcast to thousand after being filmed in the act by a secret camera.
The male lover only learnt they had been filmed in the act when he came across him and his girlfriend while searching for spycam content, a booming industry in China, where producing and distributing adult films is illegal.
Eric, not his real name, said he began watching secretly filmed videos as a teenager, attracted by how “raw” the footage was. But he became a victim of the practice 2023 when he stayed at a hotel in Shenzhen in South China.
After checking in with his partner, the couple were soon in throes of passion on the bed, completely unaware that they were being secretly filmed. And the footage was soon available to thousands of strangers at the push of a button.
Speaking about his desire for watching more authentic content, a disturbed Eric said: “I think traditional porn feels very staged, very fake. What drew me in is the fact that the people don’t know they’re being filmed. The footage was so ‘raw’.”
But he told the BBC: “When I found the video of me and ‘Emily’, I no longer find gratification in this content.”
The pair were so distraught that they didn’t speak for weeks afterwards and the girlfriend was terrified that family or colleagues might have already seen the steamy clip.
A BBC probe found thousands of recent spy-cam videos filmed in hotel rooms and sold across multiple sites, mainly on Telegram. A shocking underground world was apparent, where users could watch hotel guests’ most private moments.
Across 18 months, six sites claimed to stream more than 180 hotel room spy-cams, with some cameras streaming live 24/7. One site was under constant watch and showed footage from 54 different cameras, with around half working at any given time.
A BBC reporter posed as a customer and paid 450 Yuan (£47) a month to access his livestreaming site. These cameras, activated the moment guests swipe their key cards, record intimate footage of unsuspecting victims.
A key player in this sick operation is known as AKA. They promote these streams on Telegram, where one of his channels exploded to over 10,000 members.
AKA has been running it for years, amassing an archive of over 6,000 videos, dating back to 2017. Followers on Telegram openly mocked the victims with degrading insults like “sluts,” “whores,” and “bitches.”
In one shocking case, a spy-cam was discovered in a hotel room in Zhengzhou. The camera was hidden in a wall ventilation unit, wired directly into the building’s power grid, and pointed straight at the bed. A detector meant to spot these devices failed to identify it and the footage was streaming live to AKA’s subscribers.
When the camera was disabled, the Telegram group erupted with reactions like: “Zhonghua [the camera] got taken down!” and “It’s such a shame; that room has the best sound quality!” Hours later, AKA confirmed he had replaced the camera with another one in a different hotel.
AKA is only one of dozens of operators exposed in the growing industry, however. All appear to be working for “higher-level” individuals – the so-called “camera owners” – who orchestrate these setups and control the platforms.
It’s believed that AKA made at least 163,200 Yuan (£17,200) since last April, which is nearly four times the average annual income in China. And despite pornography being illegal in the country, spy cameras in the are easily bought in local electronics markets.
Blue Li, from the Hong Kong-based NGO RainLily – which helps victims wipe secretly filmed porn online – told the BBC that the rise of such incidents is a grave concern. “Telegram never responds to takedown requests. Victims are forced to plead with the very people selling the footage,” Li revealed.
Li also pointed out the role that tech giants like Telegram play in these horrors: “These platforms are not neutral. Their policies directly determine how these materials spread.”
Eric and Emily are still traumatised by the violation of their privacy and they even now wear hats in public to avoid recognition. While Eric admits he no longer watches the streams, he still checks the channels out of fear that the clip might resurface.
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