Dharamshala — In recent years, the Chinese authorities tightened restrictions on social media activities, particularly live streaming and the uploading of videos in the Tibetan language. In Shigatse alone, the Chinese police arrested 97 Tibetans in the name of "Cybersecurity Law" in 2025. A Tibetan woman said: "All videos in Tibetan are banned, any video speaking in Tibetan is labelled as "illegal". Is speaking Tibetan illegal? It really makes me upset."
According to sources from Tibet, on April 26, 2026, the Chinese Communist Party (PRC) has tightened restrictions on live streaming and the uploading of videos in the Tibetan language, even arresting Tibetans who have disregarded warnings from the Chinese authorities and the so-called "Cybersecurity Law". In 2025, the Chinese police arrested 97 Tibetans under the “Cybersecurity Law” and on charges of “online fraud” for broadcasting live streams and uploading videos in Tibetan.
Amid of the Chinese government is attempting to eradicate the Tibetan language and identity by shut down Tibetan-run schools, removing the Tibetan language paper from the Gaokao (the national university entrance exam) and forcibly sending millions of Tibetan children to colonial-style state boarding schools, where only the Chinese language and culture are taught. Tibetans are attempting to protect and promote the Tibetan language by speaking it in their daily lives, and particularly during live broadcasts and in videos, in order to encourage other Tibetans to speak Tibetan; however, the PRC and Chinese companies detain and arrest Tibetans, and prevent them from speaking Tibetan and using the Tibetan language.
According to the source, following the arrests and restrictions imposed by the Chinese authorities on live streaming and the uploading of videos, many Tibetans have stopped live streaming or posting videos for fear of the consequences. This is why the number of Tibetans livestreaming or posting videos fell in 2025 and 2026, whilst the arrest rate of Tibetan streamers rose for two consecutive years.
According to this source, the Chinese police (Shigatse Municipal Public Security Bureau) carried out a series of targeted crackdowns. In 2025, public security bureaus at municipal and prefectural levels set up 27 special task forces, conducting cross-regional investigations across more than 20 provinces and 40 regions. At the same time, the public security department, in collaboration with the Chinese telecommunications sector, launched Operation "Crackdown on internet". Three major telecommunications operators identitied 15.86 million new users of phone cards and broadband access, suspended 1.76 million phone cards in the name of "security reasons", and deleted 2.51 million phone numbers in the name of “Cybersecurity Law”.
A Tibetan woman said on 11 May 2026: "Every time I try to post a video on Douyin (TikTok), the system flags it as "illegal" and prevents me from posting it. Even when I posted a video of myself eating thukpa (Tibetan noodle soup), the system told me it was "illegal". What should I do? Have I committed an illegal act or a crime? All the videos in which I speak Tibetan are flagged as "illegal". Is it illegal to speak Tibetan? It really makes me furious. It wasn’t like this before: whether I spoke Tibetan or another language, it wasn’t a problem, but now it’s no longer allowed. I can’t say anything wrong, otherwise they will shut down our platform or arrest us. Now I am afraid to speak and I don’t know how to express myself. Before, live streams in Tibetan were restricted, or even banned, but now videos in Tibetan are restricted too. I have asked for an explanation about my videos that could not post, but no answers from the telecommunications sector.”
Another case was that, a well-known Tibetan streamer travelled from town to town to give Tibetans the opportunity to speak in Tibetan and ask questions. Many Tibetans appreciated his initiative and loved his live streams; however, he subsequently stopped streaming and disappeared from the scene for several months. We do not know what happened to him and his streams, but what is certain is that he was censored, like many other Tibetan streamers. Later, he started live-streaming again, but during the broadcast he has to speak a little Chinese, otherwise his stream is immediately banned. This is the reality in Tibet, and Tibetans cannot speak Tibetan without speaking a little Chinese during the live stream.
