Step aside, Tekashi 6ix9ine — a court in Hangzhou is hoping to produce this year’s biggest snitches.
A district court in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province has started issuing ads on messaging app WeChat, targeting the friends and family of suspected debtors. The hook: report your friends’ new debts, and you’ll be rewarded with a cash payout.
In an effort to chase down laolai (老赖) — derogatory slang used for people who don’t pay back their debts — Jianggan District court announced in an article on their website that their WeChat mini-program would use big data to circulate targeted ads among the friend circles of outstanding debtors. According to early reports, those that snitch could receive a percentage of the amount owed as a reward.
The initiative falls in line with China’s still-developing social credit system, which will be fully implemented by 2020.
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Which naturally begs the question — who tops this list? According to Sina.com, one of these spots goes to Zhu Lifeng, who along with her late husband, racked up 177 million RMB (equivalent to around $2.48 million USD) of debt due to failed repayments of bank loans.
Ad for Zhu Linfeng (source: Weibo)
Many people took to social media to discuss the controversial new policy. On Weibo, some disparaged the move as a privacy violation, while others felt that the debtors featured in the ads had already given up their rights by owing so much money in the first place.
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