On August 26, a sudden mudslide along the border between China and Nepal resulted in hundreds of deaths and thousands of people missing. Following this, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) initiated online censorship, deleting posts, videos, and banning accounts. After Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Tibet, the efforts to maintain stability online escalated. The internet police in Hunan and Tibet successively reported and penalized internet users, accusing them of fabricating “rumors,” but the police were exposed for fabricating “rumor cases” themselves.
The Tibetan police announced 10 cases on August 30 related to spreading “disaster rumors” about the mudslide at the Jilong Port. Ten internet users were penalized for posting comments such as “estimated deaths over a thousand” and “in Jilong Port on the Sino-Nepalese border, thousands of people instantly lost their lives.”
The individuals involved in the cases were from Tibet, Inner Mongolia, Jiangxi, Chongqing, among other places. The police claimed that they exaggerated the disaster and deliberately created social panic to disrupt rescue efforts.
An account on Chinese social media platform X criticized the CCP for spreading lies while avidly silencing the people. The post highlighted the irony of focusing on silencing individuals while failing in disaster relief efforts. The account pointed out the arbitrary nature of fabricating “rumor cases.”
The post mentioned that on August 30, in the Tibetan police’s report of “10 individuals being penalized,” the first case claimed that the information shared by the internet user regarding the mudslide was a rumor. However, the scale of the disaster described in the so-called “rumor” was almost identical to the official numbers later released. This led to the removal of the original “case one” and its replacement with another individual and their supposed “rumor.” It is unclear if the penalties against the initial user were revoked, and the entire case may have been fabricated.
A journalist from Epoch Times verified that the Tibetan police did release the two versions of the report. However, many mainland Chinese media outlets did not update the first version to the second one, and even Hong Kong media referenced the initial version.
After the mudslide disaster, Nepal provided daily updates on the death toll, missing persons, and those rescued. On August 30, the Nepalese disaster response agency reported that the death toll had risen to 788, with 2,502 individuals still missing. In contrast, the Chinese authorities were slow to provide information on the number of missing and deceased within China. On August 26, the CCP reported three fatalities and 265 individuals missing; by August 30, officials claimed that the disaster had caused 16 deaths and 546 individuals missing as of 6 p.m. on the 29th.
On August 28, the Hunan Internet Police also reported that two internet users were penalized for “ignoring the overall relief efforts,” as they exaggerated casualties and fabricating the cause of the disaster in the comment section of disaster news.
Chinese expert Li Linyi stated that the penalized internet users may have only shared information from foreign platforms to domestic users where the information might be considered as the truth, even if there were minor inaccuracies due to communication barriers. However, the CCP tends to cover up the truth in significant accidents, natural disasters, and other incidents, ultimately harming the Chinese people. By blocking information, they strip away the people’s right to knowledge, making it difficult for them to learn from past disasters and take timely precautions against future ones.
Due to restrictions on the entry of foreign journalists into Tibet, local residents may face penalties for unauthorized contact with overseas media, making it challenging for outsiders to independently verify the casualties on the Tibetan side. In contrast, international media have been able to access the disaster zone in Nepal, interviewing survivors, families of the missing, rescue workers, and capturing scenes of helicopter rescues and search operations.
According to a report by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) on August 28, footage of people fleeing at the Jilong Port was strictly monitored on Chinese social media, leading to minimal information reaching the outside world under the Chinese government’s control.
The report stated that it is now harder to interview Tibetan residents than it is to interview residents in Pyongyang, highlighting the difficulties in understanding the real situation of the affected people.
Even if the CCP’s official media reports on the disaster scene at Jilong, the focus is primarily on promoting the official rescue efforts. Chinese social media is flooded with staged videos and photos of the CCP’s rescue efforts.
Following the disaster, there were rumors circulating online about an alleged “propaganda directive” demanding media outlets to follow a specific narrative. The directive stated that all media could only repost unified reports from central media, and the phrase “mudslide in Nepal side” must be mentioned in the first sentence, emphasizing Nepalese casualties while downplaying the situation within China.
On August 27, the CCP officially announced that Premier Li Keqiang had arrived at the mudslide disaster area in Jilong Town, Jilong County in Tibet. However, just one day later on August 28, Li Keqiang was already attending a meeting of the Central Political Bureau of the CCP in Beijing.
Xinhua News Agency reported that Premier Li Keqiang, during his visit to the disaster area, emphasized to local officials the importance of maintaining so-called “social stability.”
The BBC correspondent based in China, Laura Bicker, indicated that Premier Li Keqiang’s swift visit to the disaster area was primarily for the purpose of maintaining stability, which is one of Xi Jinping’s top priorities.
Shortly after Li Keqiang’s visit, the Public Security Bureau in Shigatse announced on August 29 that all societal vehicles intending to travel towards Jilong Town would face strict controls, with no vehicles allowed to enter the Jilong direction.
According to Epoch Times reports, many families of the deceased and missing individuals have been anxiously waiting for news in places like Lhasa and Shigatse but have faced obstacles at the disaster site.
Furthermore, after Li Keqiang’s inspection of the disaster area in Tibet, the internet police in Hunan and Tibet penalized internet users for spreading “rumors.”