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Around 150 Chinese content creators have drawn intense scrutiny in Dhaka after local residents reported that the group has been livestreaming scenes from low-income Bangladeshi neighborhoods while deceptively describing the locations as New Delhi to online audiences. The extensive recording activities, concentrated across the Tekpara and Sector 12 areas of Dhaka’s Uttara suburb, have persisted for several weeks, with creators broadcasting daily life, narrow residential alleys, and neighborhood shops directly onto major Chinese digital platforms. Aside from fabricating geographical identities, several broadcasters have faced allegations of making derogatory statements regarding local civic hygiene and domestic living standards, sparking sharp resentment among residents over intrusive filming practices and privacy violations.
Sustained Livestreaming Across Low-Income Suburbs Stirs Alarm
Residents in Uttara stated that the foreign nationals operate continuously from early morning until late at night, frequently carrying multiple mobile phones to manage interactive broadcasts and monitor viewer engagements simultaneously. Although local communities initially perceived the visitors as tourists or documentary journalists, the continuous intrusion of recording lenses into private courtyards and informal dwellings created deep concern regarding personal safety and unauthorized surveillance.
Inquiries by neighborhood representatives revealed that the footage is primarily streamed across China-based applications including WeChat, Douyin, and international services such as TikTok to monetize engagement. Ritu Akhtar, a local guide assisting the visiting creators, confirmed that the content producers selectively focused on low-income settlements, making Tekpara the preferred hub for their daily transmissions. When local reporters attempted to question 17 Chinese nationals active in the area, most declined to discuss the objective behind their broadcasts, while one creator confirmed streaming for digital platforms without explaining the specific choice of the locality.
Misleading Broadcasts Misrepresent Slum Footage as Indian Capital
The primary controversy surrounding the broadcasts stems from the deliberate mischaracterization of Bangladeshi localities as major urban centers in India. Translations of the recorded commentary revealed that multiple creators told their overseas viewers that they were broadcasting live from the Indian capital of New Delhi, despite standing along drainage canals and slum settlements in suburban Dhaka.
During one recorded session, a Chinese broadcaster standing near a canal in Sector 12 presented the surrounding dwellings of Tekpara as standard residential quarters in New Delhi. The narrator described the homes as unhygienic, dilapidated, and backward, further alleging that the neighborhood lacked fundamental civic infrastructure and suffered from total law enforcement breakdown. Other creators filmed local roadside tea stalls while falsely asserting to viewers that the beverage was brewed using cow urine, or claiming at an adjacent stall that contaminated river water was utilized in food preparation, presenting unsupported claims to disparage regional cultural practices.
Residents Seek Police Intervention Over Domestic Privacy Violations
The unchecked recording has triggered formal complaints from residents who object to having their daily personal lives, children, and residences filmed without informed consent. Community members expressed severe apprehension over the true context in which their living conditions are monetized and displayed across international social media networks. These developments have prompted formal appeals to regional law enforcement authorities to investigate the legal validity of the creators’ commercial activities and visa stipulations.
The Officer-in-Charge of the Uttara West Police Station stated that the station had not received verified details regarding the exact nature of the broadcasts or the platforms hosting the footage. The official confirmed that the concerns raised by the local populace have been forwarded to senior administrative authorities for departmental examination. While the episode has revived international debates surrounding racial disparagement and online disinformation campaigns directed against India, investigators note that there is currently no verified evidence linking the Dhaka livestreaming group to any state-sponsored directive or centrally organized institutional campaign.
