(Italy – June 20, 2025) Germany’s Der Spiegel published an in-depth report on the story behind the Chinese dissident account “Teacher Li Is Not Your Teacher @whyyoutouzhele,” revealing how 33-year-old Li Ying, during his exile in Italy, built a systematic network for spreading the truth about China through X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube. He continuously collects, organizes, and publishes sensitive information strictly censored by Chinese authorities, covering topics such as lockdowns, protests, labor rights, and the feminist movement, while placing great importance on fact-checking and user security protection.
“I receive about a hundred submissions a day,” Li Ying said in an interview with Der Spiegel, showing his inbox filled with photos and videos, “here, there are protests about insolvency … Here is a scandal at a funeral home.”
Li Ying, nicknamed “Teacher Li,” is now one of the most influential Chinese dissidents. He has succeeded in doing what the regime of Chinese President Xi Jinping has tried to prevent at all costs: sharing uncensored information with hundreds of thousands of Chinese compatriots. He has two million followers on X and runs daily news livestreams on YouTube. He calls himself “Teacher Li Is Not Your Teacher,” a humorous style that matches his profile picture — a hand-drawn kitten. “The most dangerous cat in China,” as he likes to joke.
Beyond the Firewall: The Rise of Citizen Journalism
In China, where censorship is omnipresent, the media is strictly controlled, and any social media posts criticizing the government are quickly deleted. The “firewall” surrounding China’s internet blocks numerous foreign media outlets and Western social media platforms.
Li Ying’s account often shares snapshots of everyday life in China, offering a detailed and nuanced view of Chinese society that is suppressed by the authorities, including the struggles of a disabled mother seeking medical care for her child, students protesting weekend make-up classes, and a video of a 22-year-old from Hunan province boldly calling for the overthrow of “dictator Xi Jinping.” Teacher Li serves as a virtual channel through which Chinese people vent their grievances to the world.
From Art Student to Key Information Source of the “White Paper Movement”
The last time Li Ying returned to China was in 2019. At that time he was studying art in Italy and publishing short stories online. He had lived in Italy since 2016 and had gained a certain level of influence by posting short stories on Chinese social media. When his content became more political, censors blocked his accounts, so he turned to X.
In the fall of 2022, Li Ying’s life changed dramatically in just a few days. At that time, he had just graduated from an art academy in Tuscany, and protests against the “zero-COVID” policy broke out in China, especially the “White Paper Movement.” People trapped in China’s digital prison needed a safe channel to share information about the demonstrations, and Li Ying became that answer.
“That was the dividing line when my old life ended and my new life began,” Li Ying recalled. As he sat in disbelief at his desk in Milan, he saw someone shouting words that would require unimaginable courage to say in China: “Xi Jinping, resign!” He then uploaded the video online. Videos of the “White Paper Movement” quickly spread, and participants began sending him videos to post on their behalf. “Soon, I was receiving dozens of messages every second,” he recalled. He reduced his sleep to the bare minimum, processing the flood of information on his own.
Exposure of Identity and Unwavering Mission
The 2022 protests were soon crushed by the authorities. During the protests, Li Ying became a spokesperson for the silenced. “I would boot up my computer in the morning and not shut it off until the evening.” A year later, he began to form a small team, which now has more than 20 people around the world, responsible for screening submissions, preparing content, and fact-checking. Li Ying is now both a dissident and an editor-in-chief.
Despite exposure of his identity, his family subjected to intimidation, threats from national security agencies, and online smears (including slander that he “maintains his corrupt lifestyle by defaming China” and the circulation of videos falsely claiming he abused cats), Li Ying remains unwavering. Chinese police have repeatedly visited his parents, trying to force him to return to China and threatening to cancel their pensions. Some followers were questioned simply for following him, and he even called on fans to unfollow him, which led about 200,000 people to do so.
Li Ying frequently moves residences in Italy to cope with the many informants in the overseas Chinese community who collaborate with the authorities. Former classmates of mine have told me that they have been asked about my daily life. When do I get up? What restaurants do I go to? What kind of friends do I have?” He believes someone is trying to map his psychological profile in order to exploit his potential weaknesses.
In the face of this enormous pressure, Mr. Li Ying has not shown signs of discouragement.
“When I wake up in the morning, I can immediately see everything happening in China. That feeling doesn’t make me feel alone, it gives me a sense of purpose.”
He sees this as a mission beyond the personal level, aiming to challenge the CCP’s censorship system and reconstruct the citizen journalism landscape through professionalized dissident communication.
Financial Challenges and Future Outlook
Li Ying’s subscription income ranges from 3,000 to 7,000 euros per month, making it difficult for him to pay his team’s salaries. To address this, he and other political influencers launched their own cryptocurrency, “LiCoin,” at the end of 2024, aiming for decentralization, freedom from state control, and allowing donors to remain anonymous. However, the project was not well received by his followers.
Despite numerous challenges, Li Ying firmly states that he will “never stop.” In his own way, he is building a bridge to the truth for Chinese citizens in an era of information blockade.
About “Teacher Li Is Not Your Teacher”
“Teacher Li Is Not Your Teacher” is a Chinese dissident information dissemination platform operated by Li Ying in Italy, mainly publishing through X (formerly Twitter) and YouTube. The platform is dedicated to collecting, verifying, and spreading sensitive information censored by Chinese authorities, aiming to break information barriers and rebuild China’s citizen journalism ecosystem.
Contact: For contact with Teacher Li or his team, please refer to his information on X or YouTube.
(Reported by Special Correspondent Gao Zhensai of ChinaAid)