After Beijing’s public smoking ban, people can snitch on smokers using WeChat

Beijing’s public smoking ban was put in place on June 1, outlawing lighting up in places like restaurants and offices. As with any radical shift, it hasn’t come easy for the Chinese capital’s estimated four-plus million smokers, and there are still people who are flouting the ban – and the RMB 200 (US$32) fine that comes with it (update: corrected US$ conversion).

Now, Beijingers are taking to WeChat, the hugely popular messaging app, to photograph and shame smokers who defy the ban.

Using an account within WeChat called “No Smoking Beijing” (无烟北京), people are snapping shameless smokers and detailing the location where the photo was taken. Six smokers were spied yesterday and reported on the WeChat official account that was set up by Beijing’s municipal government. Four cases have been reported so far today.

It has resulted in shots like this (we’ve obscured the faces of the people involved):

And this:

Though the individuals pictured will likely escape the law, the businesses they were spotted smoking at face a much heftier penalty – a fine of up to RMB 10,000 (US$1,615). Many of the WeChat users ratting out smokers at restaurants are also appending the name of the venue.

(Hat-tip to Ben Ross for spotting this on Twitter.)