Grief on Chinese Internet as Wait for Tibet Flood News Drags On
Laura Bicker said videos of the flood surge and landslide were removed from Chinese platforms as state media dominated coverage, officials and users said.
- On September 2, 2026, rescue personnel searched debris at Gyirong Port in Tibet following deadly floods that left 541 people missing. Families shared photos online hoping for news of loved ones.
- Chinese authorities have long controlled disaster information, a pattern observed since the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. Beijing restricted details about school collapses to prevent anti-government sentiment.
- BBC correspondent Laura Bicker reported that authorities scrubbed videos of the Gyirong landslide, citing fears of instability in Tibet. Some social media users disputed this, posting screenshots showing the footage appeared in Chinese media.
- Foreign journalists like Allyson Horn of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation were blocked from traveling to the region, preventing independent verification. State media now dominates the narrative.
- Beijing has prioritized controlling information to avoid challenges to its rule in the politically sensitive Tibet region. Government supporters accused the BBC of 'bias,' zeroing in on the outlet's reporting this week.
15 Articles
15 Articles
Grief on Chinese internet as wait for Tibet flood news drags on
Hundreds of people remain unaccounted for on the Tibetan side of the frontier, where Chinese authorities keep tight control over media access and sources of information. In neighbouring Nepal, authorities have given regular updates on the rising number of dead and display names of the missing, while national media show images of families openly grieving. Chinese official media has neither shared the names of the missing nor published much footag…
Guest of the Day - Is China Censoring Information About the Tragedy of the Flood in Nepal and Tibet?
The work in Nepal and Tibet after the flood focuses on conducting DNA tests on unidentified remains, a task that, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), China would be controlling and censoring the press and international human rights researchers, so it is suspected to be a new attempt to control narratives. Do Chinese actions impact the balance of dead and missing? We discuss it with Federico Borello, deputy executive director and director of H…
While the death toll from the floods in Nepal continues to rise, the number of deaths in the Chinese autonomous region of Tibet remained stable at 16 for days. Meanwhile, the death toll has risen to 21. The actual number there may be much higher as well, but that is difficult to verify. "China is trying to control the flow of information from the region and is succeeding quite well."
Barring access and promoting ‘positive’ news: how the Chinese government has controlled the narrative during the Tibet floods
As rescue efforts have continued on both sides of the border following the devastating floods in Nepal and Tibet, a fight over how the disaster is being reported has been growing in intensity on social media. The dispute centres on the claims and counterclaims following a story by the BBC’s China correspondent, Laura Bicker, about how China is censoring videos of the floods. Bicker said videos of the landslide and flood surge sweeping through Gy…
‘False narrative’ on China flood censorship coming from Washington – Nori Vitachi - The Press United
Western media are amplifying claims Beijing hid the Nepal-Tibet disaster while concealing advocacy groups’ US funding, the author has told RT Western media are using unverified claims that Beijing censored footage of the deadly Nepal-Tibet floods to promote “false narratives” about China, Hong Kong-based author Nori Vitachi has told RT. Speaking on Thursday, Vitachi said […]
Social News XYZ
China avoids international scrutiny by silencing info about Tibetan deaths in flood disaster: Report
Lhasa, Sep 3 (SocialNews.XYZ) China's refusal to share information regarding casualties following the devastation caused by flooding triggered by a glacial collapse in Tibet fits into the long-standing policy of Chinese authorities to suppress information... - Social News XYZ
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