The Aporia · Chinese food vendor sparks ‘camera bullying’ debate after vloggers portray her as ‘evil granny’

Chinese food vendor sparks ‘camera bullying’ debate after vloggers portray her as ‘evil granny’

Read the original at South China Morning Post ↗

Cite

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Zhang, Z. (2026, September 6). Chinese food vendor sparks ‘camera bullying’ debate after vloggers portray her as ‘evil granny’. South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/trending-china/article/3366515/chinese-food-vendor-sparks-camera-bullying-debate-after-vloggers-portray-her-evil-granny?utm_source=rss_feed

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Quick Summary

A 92-year-old Chinese snack vendor, Xue, has sparked debate over "camera bullying" after being portrayed as an "evil granny" in sensational videos created by vloggers who provoked her. According to some content creators, filming people in public places is acceptable because "there is no privacy in public places", but lawyers argue that individuals do not forfeit their personal rights simply by being visible. A similar incident occurred last November involving a tourist and an elderly woman on a train. Xue's videos have garnered support from local residents who appreciate her determination to sell egg-baked pancakes after losing her son to illness.

Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-06, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

A 92-year-old Chinese food vendor named Xue has sparked a debate over online exploitation after two vloggers deliberately provoked her to produce sensational videos, portraying her as an "evil granny". The incident mirrors a similar case last November, where tourists filmed an elderly woman from the Yi ethnic group on a train despite her apparent discomfort. This behavior is known as "camera bullying", which involves filming individuals without their consent for online views and can cause emotional damage. Critics argue that even if someone is in public, they don't forfeit their personal rights to privacy. The issue of "camera bullying" has also been seen on social media platform TikTok, where teenagers have popularized a "flip the camera" prank that involves secretly recording passersby's reactions without their consent. This incident occurred in Chengdu, Sichuan province, and has sparked discussion about online etiquette and respect for individuals' privacy.

Written for “Chinese Food Vendor Controversy” on 2026-10-22, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 12% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

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South China Morning Post

⚖️ Leans right further right than this 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 4 📰 publisher trust 64

“Article A discusses a viral video of an elderly Chinese food vendor being portrayed as 'evil granny', while Article B refers to a viral clip of Jennie from Blackpink, with no mention of the vendor or China”

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

12%

1 of 8 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

Leans left

of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate

Publisher signals

64/100

South China Morning Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Crime & Law

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-09-06 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

South China Morning Post · 2877 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

Zoey Zhang

25 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction

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Also by Zoey Zhang

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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 25 articles by Zoey Zhang →

Topics

Chengdu China Chinese TikTok

Subjects

China GPE · 2× Chengdu GPE · 1× Chinese NORP · 1× TikTok ORG · 1× Xue PERSON · 1×

Narrative

On TikTok, some teenagers have popularised the “flip the camera” prank, which involves pretending to ask strangers for help filming them before secretly turning the camera around to capture the passers-by’s awkward reactions.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-06

2026-09-06 · South China Morning Post

Chinese food vendor sparks ‘camera bullying’ debate after vloggers portray her as ‘evil granny’ · assertive framing

Claims (8 extracted, 1 hedged)

Chinese food vendor sparks ‘camera bullying’ debate after vloggers portray her as ‘evil granny’ asserted

vloggers → spark → granny

Some content creators claim ‘there is no privacy in public places', lawyers clarify that people do not forfeit personal rights by being visible A 92-year-old snack vendor from southwestern China has sparked a debate over online exploitation after vloggers deliberately provoked her to produce sensational videos presenting her as an “evil granny.” uncertain

vloggers → claim → granny

This case mirrors a similar “camera bullying” incident last November, where tourists filmed an elderly woman from the Yi ethnic group in traditional clothing on a train, despite her apparent discomfort. asserted

tourists → mirror → discomfort

“Camera bullying” refers to the act of filming individuals without their consent to garner online views, with critics highlighting the potential emotional damage it can cause. asserted

it → refer → damage

This issue transcends China’s borders. asserted

issue → transcend → borders

which → popularise → reactions

The recent controversy revolved around grandmother Xue, a vendor in Chengdu, Sichuan province, who sells egg-baked pancakes on the street after losing her son to illness. asserted

who → revolve → illness

Her determination has garnered support from local residents. asserted

determination → garner → residents