In Tibet, photos and videos of protestors demonstrating against COVID-19 lockdowns spread on social media.
Tibet, a heavily guarded and restricted region of China, has experienced another lockdown. The region has allegedly seen a rise in COVID-19 cases. In response, individuals in the area have faced isolation for three months. According to the Hong Kong Free Press, the “Zero-COVID” policy restrictions “have prompted rare protests in cities such as Shenzhen and Shanghai and many, including in Lhasa, have complained of food shortages and poor conditions in mass quarantine facilities.”
Tibetans who witnessed the protests posted videos on social media. Hundreds marched in the streets and demanded to go home. The Tibetan Review reported that the videos on social media showed “a large body of the paramilitary People’s Armed Police force personnel trying to stop the protests, although they were not seen using violence or making arrests.” However, according to Business-Standard, officials detained 200 protesters.
Tibetan officials prepared for forceful protests. This was the largest protest in the Lhasa region since 2008, according to Business-Standard. The Hong Kong Free Press said, “A video… showed police vans and officers carrying riot shields stationed nearby.” Radio Free Asia (RFA) tweeted that Tibetan protesters alerted Chinese officials of the “setting off [of] a fire.”
Tibetans started sharing these videos on social media. Lhasa resident, Ms. Han, said that although she didn’t see the protests in person, she saw content on social media. According to the BBC, Ms. Han continued, “’People are locked at home everyday and life is so hard. Prices in Lhasa now are so high and landlords are chasing people for rent… People were asking for a solution – if they might be able to leave.’” Social media allowed this message to spread.
Protest content was shared on the Chinese application, Douyin, but faced censorship. Photos and videos were reposted on Twitter. A Twitter account with the username, @TibetCollective, has posted a thread of protest content to spread awareness. Videos showed commotion between protestors and officers. They also showed large groups of demonstrators.
The social media restrictions in Tibet are an extension of censorship rules in China. China invaded and gained control of Tibet over seventy years ago. While China called this invasion a liberation effort, the citizens experience great censorship and suppression. The Guardian reported that “Yaqiu Wang, a researcher for Human Rights Watch China, said there was… only ‘ever-increasing brutal repression'” since the invasion.
Tibetan voices continually face suppression. The Tibet Post is a news outlet formed by “a group of Tibetan journalists in exile,” according to Reporters Without Borders. The journalists formed The Tibet Post in hopes of exposing censorship and information control in the region. The Tibet Post reported that China’s “repressive policies” in Tibet prevent free expression, “subjecting the Tibetan people to severe persecution, genocide, inhuman torture, harsh imprisonment and extrajudicial massacres.”
Since Chinese President Xi Jinping gained power in 2013, press freedom continues to decline in Tibet. Media in Tibet remains filled with propaganda from the Chinese Communist Party. Censorship and domestic control of media has extended from China to Tibet. The Tibet Post also explained that officials engage in “buying western journalists and using ‘western media’ and social networks internationally to manipulate information, suppress any growing dissent, [and] develop propaganda activities by brainwashing the population…”
Individuals in Tibet simply want freedom. They want to speak their minds and remain liberated from the borders of the region. The emergence of Tibetan journalists in exile and social media has opened a door for these messages of liberty to spread. Will social media help fight against restrictions and repression in Tibet? Or, will censorship reign supreme?
