Police response: "Internet celebrities" use drones to live stream and track women returning home

Walking alone at night,

Seeing a drone following him all the time,

If someone tells you,

This is a drone for tracking live broadcasts,

I will follow you to the doorstep,

Are you afraid?

Recently,

A man from Xianning City, Hubei Province

Using drones to track women and conduct live broadcasts,

Causing controversy.

"Internet celebrity" live broadcast: exposing the tracked woman's address and making insults

On September 4th, a netizen exposed on social media that a blogger in Chongyang, Hubei, used a drone to follow a woman home during a social media live broadcast. There were many onlookers who not only exposed the address of the woman being followed during the live broadcast, but also made insults in the live broadcast room. This behavior has sparked heated discussions among netizens after it was exposed.

In the video exposed by netizens, the blogger said during the live broadcast, "I thought I lost her, but I didn't, just follow her around." "The little sister is turning, let's continue to go this way." And during the live broadcast, he used insulting words to attack the woman being tracked.

The live video was recorded and forwarded by netizens, causing public outrage among countless netizens. Everyone left a message saying, "It's terrifying to follow a girl with a drone, and we hope the public security organs will punish her severely." "If a single woman who goes back to her home is found to have her address by someone with ulterior motives, it's really scary." "It's really scary to follow others and spread rumors during live broadcasts!"

Police: Detention for 10 days

On September 5th, the Xianning Public Security released a video of the man Wang apologizing after being investigated and punished. In the video, Wang stated that in order to gain attention, he used drones to follow the girl and spread rumors live on online platforms, which had a very negative impact and has been criticized and educated by the public security organs. "I am deeply aware of my mistake, and I apologize to everyone here. I hope everyone can take it as a warning and not spread rumors on online platforms."

On the 6th, the Cybersecurity Brigade of Xianning Public Security Bureau stated that the incident occurred in Chongyang, Xianning. The man, Wang, used a drone to secretly capture the whereabouts of a woman and broadcast it live on the internet, causing a negative impact. He is suspected of provoking trouble and has been investigated and dealt with. On September 4th, Wang was administratively detained for 10 days, and the punishment began on that day.

At present, the man's relevant account on the short video platform has been banned. In response to this, the relevant platform replied to reporters that during user live streaming, platform personnel will conduct inspections. If other users find that their live streaming account is suspected of violating regulations, they can report it according to relevant prompts. After reporting, the platform will handle it as soon as possible.

Frequent drone stealthy shots

In recent years, with the popularization of drones, the phenomenon of "black flying" and "random flying" has occurred frequently, and some even use drones to pry into privacy and infringe on the privacy of others.

According to the introduction, "black flight" refers to some flights that have not obtained a private pilot's license or the aircraft has not obtained a legal identity, that is, unregistered flights, which have certain risks. In China, any flight without permission from the Civil Aviation Administration of China is not allowed. "Random flight" refers to unmanned aerial vehicles flying in unauthorized areas, which may interfere with aircraft flight, infringe on the privacy of others, or cause other security risks.

In mid June this year, Ms. Wang, who lives in Changchun, Jilin, encountered a situation where she was secretly photographed by a drone. Ms. Wang said in an interview that because she lived on the 17th floor, she took a shower without wearing clothes, but found a drone parked outside the window to secretly take photos. In the same month, Mr. Liu, a netizen, also posted on social media claiming that residents of hotels and apartments in a building in Ningbo, Zhejiang were repeatedly photographed by drones.

In addition, according to a search by reporters, some netizens have reported that various privacy video modules secretly captured by drones have even been launched on some websites. The reporter attempted to search for keywords such as "drone stealthy shooting" and was indeed able to find relevant links.

Is it illegal to reward and coax in "live streaming peeping"?

A lawyer has stated that the act of a drone following a woman home is an illegal act of peeping and secretly capturing the privacy of other people's body parts, infringing on their privacy rights and social order and good customs. They will be subject to administrative penalties and bear civil liability for infringement. "If someone takes someone else's portrait for dissemination, it also involves infringing on their portrait rights."

According to the Public Security Administration Punishment Law, those who peep, secretly take photos, or eavesdrop on the privacy of others shall be detained for no more than 5 days or fined no more than 500 yuan; Those with serious circumstances shall be detained for not less than 5 days but not more than 10 days, and may also be fined not more than 500 yuan

Is it illegal for netizens to use drones to capture internal footage from residential windows?

The lawyer stated that this behavior is suspected of being illegal. According to Article 285 of the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China, those who illegally invade someone else's residence, or illegally shoot, record, or disseminate someone else's privacy, if the circumstances are serious, may be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, or a fine. In addition, according to Article 43 of the Regulations on the Administration of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles of the People's Republic of China, unmanned aerial vehicles are not allowed to enter prohibited areas such as residential and office spaces of others without permission.

Should netizens and live streaming platforms who provoke tipping in the live broadcast room bear corresponding responsibilities?

The above-mentioned lawyers believe that these two may also bear corresponding responsibilities. "They have also played a helpful role in illegal activities, and those with serious circumstances also need to bear illegal responsibilities. Live streaming platforms have regulatory obligations, and they also need to bear corresponding responsibilities for illegal and irregular activities that occur within the platform."

However, some netizens have also expressed concerns that it is difficult to obtain evidence for such covert filming behavior.

In this regard, the lawyer suggests that if a party is found to have encountered such incidents, the following measures can be taken to protect their rights: firstly, to retain relevant evidence as soon as possible, including drone footage, photos, videos, etc; The second is to report the case to the public security organs, provide relevant evidence, and request the public security organs to investigate and handle it; Thirdly, if losses are caused, a civil lawsuit can be filed with the court to demand that the infringer bear civil liability, including cessation of infringement, compensation for losses, etc.

"There may be some difficulty in obtaining evidence, but evidence can be collected by saving relevant chat records, live streaming videos, and other methods," said Fu Jian.