In November 2022, as anti-lockdown protests erupted across Chinese cities, hundreds of thousands worldwide turned to an unexpected source: a mysterious X account, fronted by a cartoon cat.
Teacher Li Is Not Your Teacher posted a constant stream of real-time updates sourced from ordinary citizens, including protest footage, police movements, and news of arrests.
None of this information was available on China’s tightly-controlled state media or internet. Instead, it was curated by a single person sitting in a bedroom in Italy – an art school student named Li Ying.
Since then, Mr. Li has become a vital chronicler of information deemed politically sensitive by Beijing. His X account offers a window into Xi Jinping’s China, where authorities’ tight grip on information keeps tightening. From major protests to minor acts of dissent, corruption to crime, information scrubbed from the Chinese internet often surfaces on Mr. Li’s account.
Mr. Li claims this has earned him the wrath of Chinese authorities. In an interview with the BBC, he described how Beijing pressures dissidents overseas. He alleged that the Chinese government is not only harassing him but also his friends, family, and X followers in a coordinated campaign of intimidation.
The Chinese government has not responded to our questions, and we are unable to independently verify all of Mr. Li’s claims. However, the tactics he described have been documented by activists, rights groups, and other governments.