A report titled “Freedom on the net 2017: Manipulating Social Media to Undermine Democracy”, published by Freedom House, highlighted that a number of governments, including China, restrict mobile internet service for “political or security reasons”, particularly in ethnic or religious minorities-inhabited areas. China is ranked the “world’s worst abuser of internet freedom, followed by Syria and Ethiopia” in 2017.
Xinhua, China’s official state mouthpiece mentioned that China has blocked as many as 128,000 “harmful” websites last year. It further reported confiscation of 30.9 million “illegal” publications in its effort to maintain “social stability”.
The three topics that are heavily censored are three Ts: Tibet, Taiwan and Tiananmen as China.
Under the facade of “social stability” and “state secret,” China enforces various regulations that limit free speech and expression on the Internet. All internet users are required to identify themselves with real name to access the web.
In September last year, China’s Public Security Bureau of Machu (Ch: Maqu), Kanlho Tibetan area in Gansu Province issued a public notice entailing a list of instructions to online chat group administrators. The notice warned all chat group administrators and owners of public online accounts to regulate and take responsibility for the contents shared in the group. The regulations were said to promote “healthy and orderly development of online community” and “uphold socialist core values”.
Any information that China deem as sensitive, subversive and seditious are blocked. In addition to sophisticated technology in place, 2 million cyber police are deployed to “purify the internet”. Their role, of internet purification, includes monitoring, blocking and removing contents that are critical of the communist party and the Chinese government by using keyword searches constantly. China’s biggest taboos- the Three Ts: Tibet, Taiwan and Tiananmen Square- are enlisted among sensitive keyword search phrases.
In Tibet, a number of Tibetans have faced arrest and sentence for sharing information over the internet.
In March last year, Gedhun, a young Tibetan from Sershul county in Karze, Eastern Tibet (incorporated into China’s Sichuan Province), was beaten severely and arrested for sharing online an image of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the banned Tibetan national flag.
In February 2016, a prominent Tibetan blogger, Druklo, popularly known by his pen name: Shokjang, was given a three-year imprisonment term. Shokjang was accused of “inciting separatism” and “causing instability” for writing about the heavy military presence and crackdown on Tibetans in his town Rebkong. He had shared the images on WeChat, a popular Chinese messaging app widely used by Tibetans inside and outside Tibet.
In a separate case, September 2014, two Tibetans; Jamyang Gyatso, 32, and Namgyal Wangchuk, 43, were sentenced to five years and seven years in prison respectively for sharing on Wechat images related to the anti-fur campaign.
Despite severe clampdowns on information flow, reports of crackdown on Tibetans having expressed views both online and offline continue to emerge out of Tibet thus keeping the global audience updated of the developments inside Tibet.
– Report filed by UN, EU & Human Rights Desk –