Yan Limeng, who is doing research in Hong Kong, heard rumors that a dangerous new virus has emerged in mainland China, and the government is downplaying it. Out of concerns about personal safety and career, she expressed her willingness to help her favorite Chinese YouTube host, who is known for criticizing the Chinese government. A few days later, the host told his 100,000 followers that the Chinese Communist Party had deliberately released a new type of coronavirus. He said that he would not give the name of the source because the CCP officials could "disappear" this person. Overnight, Yan Limeng became a sensation in the right-wing media. President Trump's senior advisers and conservative authorities praised her as a hero. Equally quickly, social media labelled her interview as "false information," and scientists refused to accept her research, saying it was sophistry dressed up in jargon. Yan Limeng’s evolution from researcher to whistleblower is the product of the cooperation of two unrelated but increasingly united groups spreading false information: one is a small but very active overseas Chinese group, and the other is based in the United States. A highly influential far-right group.
https://cn.nytimes.com/business/20201120/covid-misinformation-china/