China’s largest second-hand platform Xianyu openly sells nude photos of young girls for just 8 yuan (RMB, same below). Users who reported to the police were unsuccessful, and their four reports to the platform were rejected due to insufficient evidence. After this incident attracted widespread attention, Xianyu responded that they would investigate and take action.
According to a report by The Paper on June 9th, Li Shuai (pseudonym) accidentally discovered that multiple sellers on Xianyu were openly selling nude photo collections of young girls with keywords such as “Japanese Showa” and “1984-1995”.
After Li Shuai made a purchase, a seller directed them to add WeChat, claiming they could send “other photos of hundreds of young girl idols 9000G, photo books 6000G, with more unpublished content”.
Li Shuai reported to the police station on May 28th with no results, and reported to Xianyu four times, all of which were rejected on the grounds of insufficient evidence.
A reporter from The Paper tested and found that for 8 yuan, they received a large amount of nude photos of 10-15-year-old girls. In response, Xianyu’s customer service said the platform detects through big data and multiple dimensions and accepts user complaints, explaining that they may not be able to investigate thoroughly at once.
On June 9th, the topic labeled “Xianyu responds to 8 yuan purchase of young girls’ nude photos” trended on Weibo.
Netizens questioned, “If ‘big data analysis cannot investigate thoroughly at once,’ does that mean user reports don’t count? The real-tested facts could not be stopped. Are there loopholes big enough for these to slip through regulation enforcement? This is not just normal pornographic content, it involves minors! It has already crossed legal boundaries. The so-called ‘inability to investigate thoroughly’ is essentially negligence of supervision, passing the buck. Platforms can’t just focus on making money while tossing aside their bottom line and responsibilities, right? There must be a thorough investigation! Removal, account suspensions, accountability, not a single step should be missed! Protecting minors is not just a slogan. This kind of dark industry chain must not be tolerated!”
Technology blogger “Factory Village Chief Looks at Big Factories” expressed, “For 8 yuan, you can buy nude photos of minors. This is not just a Xianyu audit loophole but a complete failure of platform governance in the efficiency and security trade-off. If that’s the case, then Xianyu has truly become an untouchable place on the internet… What’s even more ironic is that the informant’s four reports were all rejected due to insufficient evidence, and it wasn’t until the media exposure that the platform responded saying they would investigate and take action.”
The blogger questioned, “If algorithms can precisely suggest products you might be interested in, why can’t they recognize obvious illegal flow language? If big data can calculate users’ consumption preferences, why can’t it calculate the risk value of accounts with high-frequency reports? The platform always says they can’t investigate thoroughly at once, but this rhetoric seems pale and arrogant in front of the issue of protecting minors.”
According to The Paper, Shanghai police have intervened in the investigation and are currently verifying whether the seller is in Shanghai. The case is still in the investigation and evidence collection stage.
Xianyu is a second-hand trading platform under the Alibaba Group, relying on the account system and credit system of Taobao and Alipay.