Dharamshala, 25th January: According to RFA, authorities in northwest China’s Qinghai province have banned Tibetan religious social media groups, telling members that if they continue to use them, they will be probed and imprisoned. According to a provincial official’s declaration on Jan. 20, the order will take effect on March 1. Any internet coordination of religious activities and related events will be prohibited, and anyone caught breaking this rule will be investigated and punished.

Inside Tibet, many social media groups have been formed to organise religious activities online and to disseminate information on pilgrimages, feasts, and special observances in which captive birds or fish are spared and released back into the wild. However, religious acts and rituals performed or discussed on social media groups will henceforth be absolutely prohibited, and the groups’ online activities will be closely monitored. Religious activities done within the monasteries, on the other hand, will be permitted to continue as before.

Kunga Tashi, a Chinese and Tibetan affairs analyst living in New York, said that in China, most religious activities performed online are carried on by Tibetans, so this crackdown is just another example of the Chinese government’s pervasive control of religion.

Following recent efforts forcing the deportation of young Tibetan monks from their monasteries and the burning of prayer flags and other traditional religious symbols in nomad regions, Qinghai has enacted a new policy restricting religious activities online.

Tibetans allege they face political, economic, and religious discrimination, as well as human rights violations, in Tibet and Tibetan parts in western Chinese provinces. Some people believe Beijing is implementing increasingly harsh tactics aimed at eliminating their national and cultural identities.

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