China upgrades anti-graft app so whistleblowers can send images of officials caught red-handed

China’s anti-corruption agency has updated the anti-graft app it launched at the beginning of the year so that whistleblowers can now report cases on the spot by uploading photos or videos.

Until now, the app could not facilitate multimedia content. It protects users’ identities by respecting their anonymity.

The public is being encouraged to use visual evidence to document cases of officials enjoying luxurious meals, using government vehicles for their personal use, or otherwise flaunting their wealth, the Central Committee for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) said this week.

The move is part of an attack on what the agency calls the “Four Winds” of decadence, namely, formalism, bureaucracy, hedonism and extravagance. 

While some of the terms may be hard to conceive in a negative light from a foreign perspective, they make more sense in a country where business can be painfully slow when officials stubbornly stick to overly formal procedures. 

The four practices have been blacklisted among Chinese officials since president Xi Jinping launched a sweeping anti-graft campaign two years ago.