X Suspends Account That Posted Deepfakes Targeting UK Chinese Dissident Apple Peiqing Ni
The platform initially told the 27-year-old founder of the China Dissent Network that 12 posts with fake images did not breach its rules. The account was suspended after The Guardian contacted X.
nypost.comX suspended an account that posted 12 deepfake images and videos targeting Apple Peiqing Ni after initially telling the activist the material did not violate its rules on harassment. The 27-year-old founder of the UK-based China Dissent Network moved to Britain in 2019 to study. She posted a notice about a Tiananmen Square massacre commemoration scheduled for 4 June 2026 in Sutton, south London.
Shortly afterward, the account began tagging her username and sharing fabricated photographs and videos. The captions described her as having “chronically chaotic sexual relationships” and being a heavy drug user. ” The post appeared to reference an attack by masked men on a male activist at a Trafalgar Square sit-in that Ni had organised in March 2025.
X’s automated systems rejected Ni’s complaints, stating the posts did not breach rules on harassment or violent speech. A follow-up complaint to the platform’s support service was also rejected. ” The account was suspended hours after The Guardian contacted X’s press office.
Ni was later told the platform had acted in response to “different reports” regarding the content. UK police visited Ni but said they could not act because X is an American company and they could not identify the individual behind the account. Officers advised her to report the posts to the platform.
Ni recently established the China Dissent Network to create a safe space for Chinese dissidents. She is also working with UK-China Transparency on a free speech campaign for Hong Kong and Chinese students on UK campuses. Ni said her parents in China have been contacted multiple times by secret police over her activism.
“My parents are being harassed in China, saying their business will be influenced, and my grandpa’s grave will be dug out if I continue my activism overseas,” she said. ” One post accusing her of animal abuse correctly stated that she owns a cat. “I feel like they’re doing some kind of profiling of me,” Ni said.
