Yang is not the only victim-turned-livestreamer to find both opportunity and controversy in this space.
While no official figures exist, similar cases have drawn public attention in recent times, with some former victims of crime and hardship turning to livestreaming as a means of reinvention and, for some, survival.
The practice of livestream hosts sharing their stories or selling products while referencing personal hardship is often described in Chinese as “mai can” – which translates to “selling misery”.
Analysts told CNA that there is a growing “sympathy economy” on Chinese social media, where trauma becomes both content and tool for monetisation.
Many livestreamers have learned to work algorithms that reward emotional engagement, turning moments of empathy into streams of revenue, experts added.
Yet critics warned that as imitation multiplies, viewers grow desensitised – leaving the truly vulnerable struggling to be heard in a marketplace crowded with curated suffering.
“CELEBRITY WHO REUNITES FAMILIES”
Yang was born in a village in southwestern China’s Guizhou province. She was kidnapped by a neighbour when she was five, and later sold to a family in Hebei province, thousands of kilometres up north, for 3,500 yuan.
The case drew national attention in 2021 when Yang came forward and reported her ordeal to Chinese police.
Her abductor Yu Huaying was sentenced to death for trafficking Yang and 16 other children between 1993 and 2003, and was executed at age 61 in February.
Yang managed to reconnect with her biological sister on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, where she actively shares stories of other missing Chinese children under the handle @yangniuniu2021 – while promoting products from food to lifestyle items, clothes and electronics like Bluetooth keyboards and tablets.
Online, Yang has been described as an “internet celebrity who reunites families”.
In an article published last December by Jiupai News, a local outlet in the central Hubei province, she has been described as a symbol of determination and reconciliation – someone able to turn personal tragedy into public advocacy by using her social media following as a platform to raise awareness about missing children cases.
In September, she shared the story of an 82-year-old man who had travelled from Hubei to Hebei province, still searching for the child he lost three decades ago.
Back in June, she shared a video of a 31-year-old woman nicknamed Bo Lie, who recalled being taken from her grandmother and older sister when she was five.
“Being an influencer isn’t my end goal,” Yang told Jiupai News. “I want to do more and become a beacon of hope for those searching for their missing loved ones.”
“I believe that in the future, there will be thousands of Yang Niuhua coming forward and working to bring their traffickers to justice, just like what I did,” she said.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/china-livestreaming-selling-misery-sympathy-economy-yang-niuhua-child-abduction-5456236
