Absurd way of lending puts girls in danger

[File photo]

JIEDAIBAO, a loan company, has long been criticized for making young women take naked selfies as pledges for loans, but recently it became embroiled in even more controversy when some of these nude photos, even videos of the women, were spread online. Jiedaibao claims it was not responsible, but Beijing Times said that is up to the courts to decide:

When it was first revealed that Jiedaibao asked young women to provide nude photos as pledges for their loans, some people warned there was a risk the photos would be leaked. Now that concern has become the reality.

It is morally and may even be legally wrong for the company to ask young women to provide naked photos as pledges for a loan. And those who uploaded the photos have broken the law that bans the posting of indecent photos and they deserve to be punished. The company claims it is not responsible, but the photos were transferred to loan-givers via their platform and, the moment they were, it had already broken the law. Currently, as large quantities of naked photos had been posted online, Jiedaibao employees are the most likely culprits because only they have access to all the photos.

Jiedaibao has also broken other articles of the law. Reports say some girls borrowed 5,000 yuan ($4,726) but had to pay back 60,000 yuan three months later; such an interest rate is obviously above the legal limit. Thus we call for the police to investigate and bring those involved to court.

Besides, the incident should be a lesson for the young women. According to reports, some of the girls took nude photos to get loans because they wanted to buy luxury goods, they never anticipated the photos might be spread online one day. Young women need to be more aware of the dangers in society and avoid revealing their secrets.