Photo: screenshot of CCTV video

Douyin vloggers who are driving up their views by shooting videos of women who don't know their images are being recorded, may be breaking the law and could have their accounts blocked.  

More than 1,000 videos of women being approached by a man while others operate hidden cameras from a distance were found on Douyin. The men post the videos to boost their views and followers so they can make more money from advertisers. Some of the unsuspecting subjects of the videos include female high school students, CCTV reported.

In one of the videos posted on Douyin a young man posing as a food deliveryman approaches a young woman seated at a food court. He pretends to have her order, which she says she never made.  He is finally able to trick her into giving him her phone number, which in the video is muted. 

There have also been incidents of women unknowingly being used as click-bait during live-streaming events.

Zhang Kan, director of the Institute of Psychology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences told the Global Times that the videos amount to stalking, which unfortunately can attract a large audience. 

Jin Liang, a civil action lawyer, told the Global Times that photographing a person and publishing the images for profit without their permission are illegal and infringe on their privacy rights. China's Civil Code, which will take effect on January 1, 2021, contains detailed regulations concerning the protection of personal information, and will become the basis for protecting citizens' personal information.