The exchange comes from a video of a blind young woman getting hit by a rider on an e-bike in Beijing, which recently went viral in China. The video prompted an outpouring of sympathy, calls for the rider to be held accountable, and a heated debate about public safety for visually impaired people.

But the clip was staged.

In the video, posted May 8 on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, the woman, surnamed Jiang, is seen walking along tactile paving. She is then struck by an e-bike driving in the wrong direction, causing her to drop her cane. The rider does not apologize, but instead blames her for not paying attention. Jiang then navigates the city to purchase painkillers for her wrist — allegedly hurt in the collision.

After netizens called on authorities to investigate the incident and punish the rider, Jiang told local police that the video had been taken long ago, her wrist had since healed, and that she had received an apology from the perpetrator. She subsequently deleted the video, raising suspicions among netizens.

Jiang, the woman at the center of the controversy, is a 24-year-old influencer with first-degree visual impairment caused by optic nerve atrophy. She documents her solo travels as a visually impaired person on social platforms including Douyin and Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote.

Beijing police announced Saturday via their official WeChat account that the video was fabricated and that Jiang and a 26-year-old man surnamed Liu had planned and executed the hoax together to attract followers and drive traffic for profit.

The police added that the content misled large numbers of internet users “in violation of public order and good morals.” The two have been placed under criminal coercive measures, a procedural step under Chinese law that can include detention, bail, or other restrictions while investigations continue.

The case is part of a broader crackdown on accounts producing sensationalized or staged content to boost engagement. On May 12, the Cyberspace Administration of China announced that so far this year it had ordered platforms to remove more than 520,000 short videos involving staging and other violations and sanctioned over 68,000 accounts.

In a separate incident disclosed in the same statement, a 39-year-old woman surnamed Hu and a 55-year-old man surnamed Zhang received administrative punishment for producing and distributing a staged video of a street dispute between e-bike riders. The video was also widely shared online.

In another case publicized in the same statement, a 25-year-old man surnamed Yang was fined after using artificial intelligence tools to generate false information claiming that more than 10,000 tons of waste had been illegally dumped in a suburban area of Beijing. 

Editor: Marianne Gunnarsson.

(Header image: Screenshots from the viral video of Jiang getting hit by an e-bike rider. From Douyin)