Chinese government circulated sexually explicit deepfakes of dissident Yao Zhang
Yao Zhang says she doesn’t have any friends, yet every week, thousands of her 175,000 YouTube subscribers tune in to her channel to listen to her live takes on Chinese current affairs.
“China isn’t a democratic country. Everyone suffers in that regime,” Zhang told Radio-Canada during an interview held somewhere between Montreal and Quebec City.
Concerned for her safety, the 39-year-old guards any information that could give away her location.
And for good reason: the Quebec YouTuber, who refuses to be silenced, has been the target of an intimidation campaign by the Chinese government for over a year.
“I have to be very, very careful,” she said. “I stopped all communications with the Chinese community because I don’t know who I can trust.”
Her YT channel here.