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.
