Western media houses, including The Independent and the BBC, must reject the dissemination of fake news in the form of a serious allegation insinuating the Dalai Lama is a “child abuser” and “paedophile”. A public apology is needed to put the record straight.
When at least 55 media houses in the UK gave coverage to a few seconds of a viral video clip on social media, did they realise that they were supporting China’s disinformation campaign against the Tibetan spiritual leader?
The few seconds of the video clip showing the Dalai Lama “kissing” a young Indian student was first posted on 8 April on a fake social media account before British media ran the story two days later. Prior to this, for the first time, Chinese authorities allowed the spread of the same video carrying the Dalai Lama’s picture freely across Chinese social media platforms including in China’s occupied Tibet for weeks. Many Tibetans were very pleased to see a glimpse of their spiritual leader’s image, which is otherwise banned in Tibet.
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