In a bizarre scene straight out of a sci-fi flick, some public bathrooms in China are now holding toilet paper hostage behind advertisements, according to frustrated users venting on an anti-consumption subreddit.
China Insider shared a chilling video – branded “dystopian” by appalled viewers – showing people scanning QR codes on toilet paper dispensers to watch a quick ad before a stingy few squares are doled out. Want more paper or to dodge the ad? Cough up 0.5 RMB, roughly 5 cents, to bypass the nonsense. Chinese officials claim this setup curbs waste, pointing fingers at folks allegedly swiping excessive amounts of free toilet paper.
“This is what capitalist communist dystopia looks like at a glimpse,” a user wrote. “The irony in it being a locked down authoritarian and economic expansionist society is ironic and subtly so dangerous.”
“This wouldn’t work in the UK, either the machine would get smashed in shortly or there would be poop smeared everywhere,” another quipped.
This isn’t China’s first foray into high-tech restroom antics – back in 2017, Beijing’s Temple of Heaven park rolled out toilet paper dispensers with facial recognition tech, raising serious questions about privacy and control, according to Metro.
However, China’s Cyberspace Administration and Ministry of Public Security have since outlawed the use of facial recognition without consent, explicitly banning the equipment in public places like hotel rooms, public bathrooms, dressing rooms, and toilets.
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