Beijing restricts use of Tibetan language on learning apps, streaming services

Following recent Chinese government directives, the China-based language learning app Talkmate and video streaming service Bilibili have now removed the Tibetan and Uyghur languages from their sites, sources told Radio Free Asia (RFA).

And under a government order announced on Dec 20, foreign organizations and individuals beginning March 1 may no longer spread “religious content” online in China or Tibet, with religious groups inside China told they must obtain a special license to do so, the news portal reported.

The regulation, “Measures on the Administration of Internet Religious Information Service,” was issued jointly by the State Bureau of Religious Affairs, the State Internet Information Office, the Ministry of Industry and Information, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Ministry of State Security and went into effect March 1.

Restrictions are now also in place on a wide range of social media platforms in Tibetan areas, a source inside Tibet told RFA this week.

“Specifically, those platforms where users go live to perform and communicate with their audiences have seen more restrictions put in place,” RFA’s source said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

“Tibetans are forbidden to speak in Tibetan while communicating, and if any Tibetan artist tries to represent Tibetan culture and tradition on their social media platform, their accounts are disconnected,” the source said.

“And if such performances go live, they are immediately interrupted by the government,” he added.

Also speaking to RFA, a researcher at the Dharamsala, India-based Tibet Policy Institute named Phentok confirmed China's new restrictions had gone into effect on March 1.

"Basically, these are intended to impose firm restrictions on Tibetans regarding what they share on their social media platforms," Phentok said.

Authorities in northwest China’s Qinghai province have already banned Tibetan social media groups tied to religion, warning group members they will be investigated and jailed if they continue to use them, sources told RFA in earlier reports.