At least 2 more Telegram groups circulating pictures of local women surface; police investigating

Cut off one head, two more shall take its place.

Despite efforts to crack down on Telegram groups dedicated to sharing lewd material involving Singaporean women, more continue to emerge.

Recently, at least two more groups in a similar vein have surfaced. 

The chat groups — one with over 6,000 subscribers and the other with more than 4,000 — consist of members sharing images of various Asian women, though not all are Singaporean. The pictures appear to be images grabbed and shared without consent from the women's social media accounts. 

One of the groups even had rules on what can be posted and what can't — including a prohibition against nudes. 

Since awareness of the Telegram chatgroups heightened on Reddit and Twitter, netizens have taken it upon themselves to shut them down. 

Similar to the infamous SG Nasi Lemak group — which saw four men responsible being arrested — these groups are made up of mostly Singaporean males who perversely share and exchange photos and videos of local women. Members would request the social media handles of the women involved and in some cases, make contact with them. 

Before netizens started storming one of the groups, a video by a Twitter user recording showed over 3,000 active members within it.

"Thousands of other girls pictures" were being circulated within the group too, the user added. 

Upon infiltrating said group, the Twitter user's girlfriend was even sent an unsolicited picture of a member's genitalia.

Meanwhile, another Twitter user has been collating a list of similar illicit chat groups with information on how to report them. They've also opened a submission platform for others to share their findings.

Beyond women, some of the reported groups have also targeted male victims, including underaged boys in uniforms.

A police report has been filed as of July 22, and the police confirmed to AsiaOne that they are currently looking into the matter. 

Four men, including two teenagers, were arrested last year for their involvement in circulating obscene materials and promoting vice activities in SG Nasi Lemak. One of them, Liong Tianwei, 37, was slapped with nine charges, while the rest faced two charges each. 

Another chat group, SharingIsCaring, was also under investigation by the police for sharing photographs of women and girls taken in public places, including on MRT trains.

Four more were arrested in November last year, also for circulating obscene materials in yet another Telegram chat group, as well as for advertising the sale of obscene material. 

rainercheung@asiaone.com
ilyas@asiaone.com