Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, Nov. 10: The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), a Washington DC-based Tibetan advocacy group, has called on the United States government to restore and strengthen Tibetan-language broadcasting services of Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Free Asia (RFA), warning that their disruption has created an information vacuum in Tibet that Chinese state media is seeking to fill through expanded propaganda and censorship.
In a report titled “Unsilenced Voice: Why American Support for Tibetan Broadcasting Is Essential,” ICT urged Washington to restore the Tibetan services of both broadcasters to full operational capacity, maintain shortwave radio transmissions and invest in technologies that enable Tibetans to access independent information despite China’s extensive internet censorship and restrictions on information.
Tibetan broadcasting was disrupted in March 2025, when VOA’s Tibetan-language service went offline in mid-March. RFA’s Tibetan-language shortwave transmissions, which had served as a crucial source of information for audiences in remote and heavily censored areas, continued briefly before being taken offline in early April 2025.
The report said the suspension of the two broadcasters’ shortwave transmissions significantly reduced access to independent Tibetan-language news, leaving audiences increasingly exposed to information disseminated through Chinese state-controlled media.
Describing the impact of the disruption, ICT noted that Tibetans inside Tibet have likened the absence of the broadcasts to “missing their morning tea,” reflecting how the programmes had become part of their daily routine and an important source of trusted information in their native language.
The report warned that the loss of independent broadcasting risks turning Tibet into an even deeper information “black box,” restricting international access to information about human rights conditions, cultural policies, religious freedom, environmental changes, security developments and governance across the Tibetan Plateau.
Highlighting the strategic importance of US-funded international broadcasting, ICT described it as a relatively low-cost instrument of public diplomacy, particularly in regions where governments impose extensive restrictions on independent media and access to information.
The report contrasted the comparatively modest funding required to sustain Tibetan-language broadcasting with China’s international propaganda operations, which independent assessments estimate cost between US$7 billion and US$10 billion annually.
ICT argued that restoring Tibetan broadcasting would provide returns beyond the immediate dissemination of news, including supporting Tibetan language and cultural preservation, informing diaspora communities, shaping international understanding of developments in Tibet and providing policymakers with information that would otherwise be difficult to obtain.
Among its recommendations, the organisation called on the US government to restore VOA and RFA’s Tibetan-language services with adequate staffing and broadcasting hours to ensure consistent programming for audiences inside Tibet and across the diaspora. It also urged Washington to prioritise shortwave radio as a reliable means of reaching audiences in remote areas and locations where internet access is restricted, while strengthening digital and multimedia distribution to expand access.
The report further called for investment in censorship-circumvention technologies to help Tibetans bypass China’s internet restrictions and access independent news. It also raised concerns about political censorship embedded in Chinese-originating artificial intelligence systems, urging greater transparency, independent evaluation and wider access to uncensored alternatives.
In addition, ICT recommended that US-funded international media give greater priority to reporting on freedom of expression and human rights in Tibet, including religious freedom, cultural preservation, environmental concerns and political developments. It also called for Tibetan-language services to receive priority in US public diplomacy initiatives and any future structural reforms of federally funded international media organisations.
