Be mindful and careful of the content being posted in your group chats, guys!
A 31-year-old man was recently (October 2018) sentenced to six months in prison because the WeChat group that he managed was flooded with pornographic videos. This incident happened in Yunan, China.
According to Shanghaiist, the man surnamed Luo initially created the group last year and had named it “Border Antique Auction”. It was meant for the members to share their thoughts and information about antiques but the direction of the group had changed radically after a few months.
Source: Lost Tiempos
It was reported that 515 pornographic videos were shared across the group by the members from 31 March to 10 April. This works out to about 46 videos per day on average (if we did the math correctly).
When the group chat’s content started spiralling out of control, not only did Luo not try to stop it, he even shadily changed the group name from time to time to avoid being detected. At its peak, the group had 150 active members onboard.
The administrator was finally arrested in May and he pleaded guilty for spreading obscene content through the WeChat group. Since he had shown remorse in court, the judge sentenced him to six months of jail time, which was considered relatively light. It was unsure if the group members were prosecuted.
Source: Little Stories
This prosecution came after China had enforced a new rule where group administrators are legally responsible for the content shared in their groups. Under this new ruling, another migrant worker in China was jailed for nine months after he jokingly invited someone to join ISIS with him in a WeChat group.
In Malaysia, we have a similar ruling whereby the admin of a WhatsApp group could be charged if the group members send fake news to the chat. However, until now, we’ve yet to see anyone getting caught for this crime. Don’t kena kantoi ok?
Do you think it’s time for us to strictly enforce this ruling? Let us know what you think in the comments!
Also read: Man Charged for Having 14 Porno Photos in Phone After Cops Find Them During Investigation
