5 Chinese social media stars using their influencer fame for good, from a girl fighting climate change just like Greta Thunberg to a doctor giving Covid-19 tips
- Howey Ou, China’s only public climate striker, has been barred from class but insists the country’s youth ‘must accept this historical responsibility’
- Office worker Liang Yu spearheaded a charity drive dubbed the ‘anti-epidemic sisters relief operation’ to send sanitary products to female health care workers
Rather than promoting fashion, food and beauty brands’ products, a new breed of social media influencers in China are using their celebrity status to champion causes such as environmentalism and to share medical and legal knowledge. Here are five of the biggest ethical key opinion leaders, or KOLs, active on Chinese social media platforms.
Howey Ou
She first made headlines for a one-person climate strike in May last year in front of the local government office in Guilin, the touristy city where she lives. The strike lasted a week before she was stopped by police and questioned. She was not cowed and continues to stage strikes, which cause regular has run-ins with the law. In July, she was barred from returning to school because of her activism.
While Ou, 17, does not have a large following in China, her efforts have attracted a lot of international press coverage, with many praising her bravery.
“I don’t want China to not do anything about this. China’s youth must accept this historical responsibility,” Ou told the South China Morning Post in an interview in July.
Weiya
