Twitter account with cat avatar takes centre stage for info and updates on China protests

The tweets, re-tweets and discussions on Twitter around the protests, that shook China last month and challenged the authority of Xi Jinping since the leader came to power, had a focal point on the micro-blogging site - a Chinese account with a cat avatar.

As people carried out protests calling for ending the zero-Covid restrictions and more freedom, live tweets were shared by the account “Teacher Li is Not Your Teacher” about these demonstrations in real-time, reflecting how fast the call for dissent reverberates across the nation.

The accounts, photos as well as videos were being censored swiftly online in China. However, those who knew how to break the Great Firewall were able to send photos and videos to “Teacher Li,” which eventually became one of the most important sources of information for Chinese people and the world.

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The man running the account, Li, is a 30-year-old painter who wears spectacles and spends most of his time sitting on a chair in front of a monitor and a keyboard in his living room in Italy, CNN reported.

During those days, he would go through an endless number of private messages in his inbox about the updates regarding the protests. He would then post those videos on the behalf of the people while hiding the senders from Chinese authorities' scrutiny.

“This account may become a symbol that Chinese people are still pursuing freedom of speech. When you post something within China, it will quickly disappear. This account can document all these historical events and moments that cannot be saved inside the country,” Li said.

In two weeks, his number of followers quadrupled to more than 800,000. His feed was closely monitored by activists and journalists and some television channels also aired his posts across the world.

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Under China's surveillance

With the increase in the number of followers, Li's account also caught the attention of Chinese authorities. Days back when Li was tweeting, he received his parents' anxious phone call from eastern China as they informed him about another visit from the police officials.

“As soon as I started to update Twitter, they called my parents to tell me to stop posting. And then they went to our house at midnight to harass my parents,” Li stated.

This was the second visit by police in a day. A local police chief, accompanied by some officers, had visited Li's parents in the morning and had accused Li of “attacking the state and the (Communist) Party” and had shown to them a list of tweets shared by him as “criminal evidence”.

“They wanted to know if there were any foreign forces behind me, whether I received any money, or paid people money for their submissions,” Li stated. Li informed his parents that no money was involved and he is not working for anyone. He said that his father requested him to “pull back from the brink” and not post.

“I can’t turn back now. Please don’t worry about me. I don’t think I’m doing anything wrong,” Li told his father.

(With inputs from agencies)