Beijing has launched a fresh crackdown on the internet with the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission (CAC) starting the “Qinglang: Rectifying the Chaos in Account Name Information” campaign on June 18, 2026. This three-month “special action”, part of the annual “Qinglang” (Clean up) drive, targets four areas; name impersonation, identity disguise, embedding prohibited information, and black and gray market activities.
In practice, the Qinglang campaign serves a dual purpose; tackling real problems such as fraud and misinformation while tightening control over public narratives. In Tibet, this can mean suppressing dissenting voices, cultural expression, and information flows that go against official policies and narratives, as documented and reported by the International Campaign for Tibet.
In Tibet, the campaign’s rollout carries heightened significance amid already stringent digital controls. Tibetan areas feature pervasive surveillance, real-name registration, and keyword censorship on Chinese social media platforms.
State media, including Xinhua, People’s Daily, and CCTV, framed the initiative as a necessary step to protect users from scams, restore online order, and foster a healthier digital environment. Since its inception in 2016, the Qinglang drives have become an institutionalized tool for annual cleanups, removing millions of pieces of content and countless accounts each year that challenge the Chinese government’s narrative and policies.
While presented as a consumer-protection and anti-fraud measure, the campaign operates within China’s comprehensive system of internet censorship aimed at maintaining “correct public opinion guidance” and social “stability” under Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership. The CAC, directly under the Party’s Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission, explicitly links such efforts to ideological security and “positive energy” promotion.
Surface-level enforcement may target scams and fake accounts, but the deeper political layer risks intensifying restrictions on Tibetan cultural and religious expression online. Sharing images or teachings of the Dalai Lama, discussions of Tibetan language education, environmental concerns, or religious practices have long triggered account suspensions, content removals, and, in some cases, arrests.
The use of the Tibetan language is challenging on a range of Chinese social media applications, particularly those featuring streaming and live communication services. Tibetan netizens on Chinese internet platforms reported widespread platform discrimination. Livestreaming in Tibetan, posting pure Tibetan-language comments, or displaying Tibetan script often results in warnings, restricted visibility, or outright bans. In the context of the current Qinglang campaign, which is purportedly targeting “identity disguise” and “negative energy,” Chinese internet platforms in Tibetan areas are likely to comply with the central authorities by further limiting Tibetan-language accounts that promote cultural content outside official narratives. For Tibetans, this risks further narrowing already constrained digital spaces for cultural preservation and expression.
Major platforms such as Douyin (TikTok’s parent Chinese version) and Kuaishou impose heavy limitations on Tibetan-language content as documented and reported by the Tibetan Center for Human Rights and Democracy. Attempts to write Tibetan script in livestream backgrounds or comments frequently fail to display or trigger automated flags.
These language-specific curbs align with broader Sinicization policies, including shifts toward Chinese-medium instruction in schools and restrictions on private Tibetan-language teaching. This restrictive environment for Tibetan linguistic and cultural expression will likely become even more prohibitive with China’s July 1 implementation of the Ethnic Unity and Progress Law.
WeChat users had received official warnings for video calls where a Dalai Lama image appeared in the background, and accounts posting short videos in traditional Tibetan clothing or pure Tibetan speech face intensified scrutiny. Tibetan-language blogs and WeChat public accounts have been shut down, sometimes under pretexts like copyright violations. Keyword censorship extends to religious terms (e.g., Kalachakra in multiple languages), cultural references, and even combinations involving the Dalai Lama. Research by groups like Citizen Lab has long documented sophisticated WeChat filtering that affects group chats more stringently, blocking content that could foster collective Tibetan identity or religious practice.