The story of a middle -aged man, or “uncle”, who supposedly disguised himself as a woman to film in secret and share videos of her connections with hundreds of men, shook China’s social networks, stimulating fears for public health, privacy and marriage fidelity.
The hash “red uncle” was the main trend element in the popular China Microblog Weibo on Tuesday, attracting at least 200 million visits as users expressed disbelief and shock.
Online publications The man said in the eastern city of Nanjing had attracted 1,691 heterosexual men in sexual encounters at home that he later recorded and distributed online.
The District Police confirmed the shared video in Nanjing in a statement on Tuesday. They said that the crossed man, whose last name is Jiao, had been arrested on Sunday under suspicion of spreading obscene material.
But the police said Jiao was 38 years old, no 60, as publications on social networks had declared. They also denied having intimate meetings with more than 1,000 men, but did not give a figure.
Jiao could not be contacted immediately to comment.
In China, homosexuality was decriminalized in 1997, but the dissemination of images of sexual acts is punished with the law.
Take photos of sexual activities in a private environment and share them also violates privacy rights and could be considered a criminal offense.
Many social media users expressed public health concerns, with a Weibo user who warns that the incident could be “a great headache” for epidemic prevention authorities.
Users of social networks also distributed a assembly of shots in the head of almost 100 men who were supposed to know the “red uncle”, which caused a simulated advice of some, urging women to verify if their fiancee or husbands appeared.
“The invasion of personal privacy is a non-no,” said a user, warning that it was irresponsible to publish said compilation.
