Outrage in China as thousands of private pictures of girls posted online

Beijing: Thousands of men allegedly shared intimate photos and videos of their girlfriends without consent on the Telegram app, Chinese media reported, sparking widespread outcry against secret filming and calls to better protect women.Pornography in China is illegal, and conservative social attitudes towards women remain the norm. It comes after a Chinese university expelled a woman student this month for "damaging national dignity" over videos posted by a Ukrainian esports player on Telegram suggesting they had been intimate.The Chinese state-owned Southern Daily reported this week a woman had discovered that photos of her taken unknowingly had been shared in a Telegram forum with over 100,000 users, mostly Chinese men.Members of the forum also shared photos of their girlfriends, ex-girlfriends and wives, according to a commentary in the Guangming Daily, an outlet backed by China's communist party. Revelations of the group have sparked widespread outcry online. "We can no longer remain silent. Because next could be me, or it could be you," read one comment on Instagram-like Red Note.A related hashtag has been viewed more than 230 million times on social media platform Weibo since Thursday. The largest group, called "Mask Park", has since been taken down, but smaller spinoffs remain active, according to reports. Chinese authorities have yet to publicly announce any action against the Telegram group. afp