MaskPark
MaskPark, also known as the "MaskPark tree hole forum" or "MaskPark树洞论坛," is a Chinese language online chat group that circulates sexual and sexually exploitative videos via instant messaging platforms such as Telegram. The group manages more than twenty subgroups, totalling over 100,000 members. After the group was exposed in July 2025, the incident was referred to by Chinese social media users as the Chinese version of the “Nth Room” case.[1]
The group circulates sexually exploitative photos and videos taken without consent. Members take photos of random women or share private photos of their girlfriends or ex-girlfriends, in both public spaces (e.g. on the subway, in shopping malls, in classrooms) and private spaces (e.g. at home, in fitting rooms, in bathrooms). Some members have even shared video recordings of sexual assault. The group also enables the buying and selling of devices for making secret recordings (such as pinhole cameras), as well as the sharing of installation tutorials for those devices.[1]
The incident became a trending topic on Weibo on July 18, 2025 and July 23, 2025, after which the group backed up their chat history and closed their largest group chat. However, many smaller group chats devoted to sexually exploitative photography still survive, and the buying and selling of pinhole cameras has persisted. At the same time, victims are spreading awareness among the wider public. In particular, they have raised awareness among women, reminding them to check for possible pinhole cameras.[2]
According to Reuters, as of July 29, 2025, relevant Weibo hashtags have gained more than 270 million views.[3]
Media Coverage
According to an investigative report by Southern Daily, one of the victims pointed out that the locations where the recordings had been taken include shopping malls, toilets, hotels, and even instances of hospitals, schools, and private homes. Devices are often disguised as incense holders, outlets, or other everyday objects, “and form a complete black market industrial chain—from sexually exploitative filming and photography, to their dissemination, transaction, and profit.” Initially, the victim had received a private message that said, “Do you know that videos of you were leaked?” The message included a link to MaskPark. The victim thus discovered that her ex-boyfriend had taken sexually exploitative videos of her without her knowledge, and uploaded to the forum everyday photos of her, intimate photos of her, and video recordings of their intimacy. According to her observation, she’s not the only victim of the group chat. She also expressed that the majority of the group’s active members are men, come from various Chinese provinces, and vary in age.[4]
Following Southern Daily, domestic news outlets such as the Guangming Daily and Cover News ("封面新闻") have also covered the incident. In particular, Cover News reports that, according to investigations conducted using TGstat, a Telegram data analytics tool, MaskPark was first established in June 2021 and reached over 310,000 followers before it was banned in December 2024. However, in March 2025, the group reappeared under a new account, with 35,000 views per post on average and more than 400,000 daily visitors. The anonymous investigator comments that all MaskPark-affiliated accounts, in combination with the 400,000 daily visitors, could place the group's total member count at 600,000 instead of 100,000. Cover News adds that these figures have not been cross-verified.[5]
Reuters, The Guardian, and Sixth Tone have reported on the incident in English.[3][6][7]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 王熠. "前男友把她卖给了十万人：起底跨境偷拍群的肮脏交易__南方+_南方plus". www.nfnews.com. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
- ↑ "中國逾10萬人偷拍群組涉違法 微博熱搜疑遭壓制". 經濟日報 (in 中文). 2025-07-26. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chen, Laurie; Chen, Laurie (2025-07-29). "Outrage in China after reports exploitative images of Chinese women shared in Telegram groups". Reuters. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
- ↑ 鄭寧 (2025-07-27). "中國N號房｜10萬人境外群組瘋傳偷拍與AI合成照 受害者親述遭遇". 香港01 (in 中文). Retrieved 2025-07-31.
- ↑ 封面新闻. "大量中国女性私密照在境外传播交易！涉事平台已设为私人频道，受害者发声→". Weixin Official Accounts Platform. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
- ↑ Hawkins, Amy (2025-07-31). "Anger grows in China over reports of online groups sharing explicit photos of women". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
- ↑ Tone, Sixth (2025-07-28). "Chinese Women, Children Targeted in Cross-Border Voyeurism Ring". #SixthTone. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
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