A Tibetan \u201cthangka\u201d artist and two other Tibetans have been detained \nin eastern Tibet, possibly due to tightened security and surveillance of\n the social media platform WeChat around the 30th anniversary of the \nDalai Lama receiving the Nobel Peace Prize.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to information the International Campaign for Tibet \nreceived from Tibetan sources in exile, the detentions took place a few \ndays before the anniversary on Dec. 10. The three Tibetans appear to \nhave been detained in response to their communications with friends and \nfamily outside Tibet via WeChat, the surveillance of which has led to a \nnumber of arrests across Tibet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The three Tibetans are Tsegan, in his mid-30s; Lubum Dorjee, who has \nbeen deaf from birth and became an artist of the \u201cthangka\u201d\u2014a form of \ntraditional Tibetan painting\u2014with support from his family; and a third \nperson whose name is not known. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
They were detained in Ri\u2019ngon (Chinese: Ren\u2019ai) village in Gangya \n(Ch: Ganjia) township in Sangchu (Ch: Xiahe) county, Kanlho (Ch: Gannan)\n Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu Province. Their current \nwhereabouts are unknown, and there are fears for their safety and \nwelfare. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A circular released by Chinese government departments<\/a> in Kanlho warned that cyber restrictions would be in place starting March 1 of this year, the anniversary month<\/a> of the 1959 Tibetan Uprising and protests across Tibet in 2008. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The warning states that \u201cMarch is an unusual month of special security concerns and extra efforts will be added in terms of monitoring and managing WeChat groups\u2026If any WeChat group members publish any illegal information against the laws, he or she will be sentenced to [between] one and eight years in prison, and the same thing will be done to the WeChat group organizer.<\/em>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The circular also warns that Tibetans should \u201cnot spread rumors or \nbelieve in rumors,\u201d and that those who do so will be \u201cresponsible for \nthe consequences.\u201d Such opaque language can be used by Chinese \nauthorities to define as a \u201ccrime\u201d almost any expression of Tibetan \ncultural or religious identity, reference to the Dalai Lama or his \nteachings, or mild statement of opinion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Operated by the Chinese company Tencent, WeChat has become the \ndominant social networking platform in China as well as in \nChinese-occupied Tibet. Tibetans outside Tibet or anyone with family or \nrelationships based in Tibet tend to download the messaging app to stay \nin contact, as other global social media applications are banned in Tibetan areas<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n But WeChat, which is constantly updating its technology to monitor \nand censor content from its users, is increasingly dangerous for \nTibetans to use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Earlier this year around the anniversary of the Tibetan National \nUprising in March, the authorities in Sangchu launched a crackdown on \ncommunication via WeChat, stating that posting \u201cany information harmful \nto the [Chinese Communist] Party, government and society\u201d on WeChat \nwould be regarded as \u201ca criminal act.\u201d[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n ICT\u2019s sources said other Tibetans have been arrested in the area over\n their use of WeChat, although full details are not known due to China\u2019s\n efforts to prevent information from reaching the outside world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In August, a Tibetan named Rinso from the Amdo region was held in custody for 10 days<\/a> after sharing a photograph of the Dalai Lama via WeChat, according to Radio Free Asia (RFA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chinese authorities in Tibet offer cash awards of as much as 300,000 \nyuan (US $42,582) for information leading to the arrests of social-media\n users deemed disloyal to China, according to RFA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On Sept. 19, a Tibetan monk named Sonam Palden, 22, from Kirti \nMonastery in in Amdo was detained apparently in connection with his \nWeChat posts about the Tibetan language and Chinese policy, according to\n an exile Kirti monk, Kanyag Tsering. In recent years, the Chinese \ngovernment has increasingly restricted the use of the Tibetan language \nin schools, courtrooms and other spaces in Tibet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2014, a Tibetan monk was arrested for allegedly sharing the Dalai \nLama\u2019s teachings on WeChat. Lobsang Choejor of Drongsar Monastery in \nChamdo (Ch: Changdu) was arrested on March 4 of that year<\/a>\n after being accused of using his phone to send information to \u201coutside \ncontacts\u201d through WeChat and distributing teachings and talks by the \nDalai Lama, according to Radio Free Asia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n According to researcher Tenzin Dalha of the Tibet Policy Institute, \nbased in Dharamsala, India, a Tibetan woman from Tibet\u2019s capital of \nLhasa was \u201ccalled in by government officials for severe interrogation, \nand warned against creating any future chat groups for classmates\u201d after\n she created a chat group for harmless, non-political conversation.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIncreasingly dangerous for Tibetans<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Arrested for WeChat messages<\/h4>\n\n\n\n