1/21
Last month, in April, a viral video circulated, sharing an incendiary online attack on the Dalai Lama making a slanderous accusation that he was a pedophile. It became a global headline. Many Tibetans have pointed out & explained how ridiculous the accusation is.
01:37 AM - May 29, 2023
2/21
Many non-Tibetan, including Westerners, have imposed their value and cultural judgment on the interaction. Tibetans, incl Tibetan feminists, have said that the meaning of this common expression used to tease and teach children is completely lost in cultural interpretation and its English translation
01:41 AM - May 29, 2023
3/21
It is an example of a manufactured outrage.
The video came from an event that took place in Feb 28, when the Dalai Lama met with students and members of M3M Foundation, an Indian charitity. But it only became viral (with a twisted meaning) about a month later.
The video came from an event that took place in Feb 28, when the Dalai Lama met with students and members of M3M Foundation, an Indian charitity. But it only became viral (with a twisted meaning) about a month later.
01:44 AM - May 29, 2023
4/21
VOA Tibetan posted a clip of the Feb 28 event on the same day.
It also posted the clip of the Dalai Lama with the boy but as it told Snopes, that video has been removed.
https://www.snopes.com/fac...
It also posted the clip of the Dalai Lama with the boy but as it told Snopes, that video has been removed.
https://www.snopes.com/fac...
Dalai Lama interacted with Indian High School students - YouTube
༧གོང་ས་༧སྐྱབས་མགོན་ཆེན་པོ་མཆོག་གིས་རྒྱ་གར་གྱི་མཐོ་སློབ་སློབ་མར་མཇལ་ཁ་དང་བཀའ་སློབ་སྩལ་གནང་བ། Dalai Lama interacted with Indian High School studentsབོད་ཀྱི་བླ་...
01:47 AM - May 29, 2023
5/21
The VOA Tibetan clip of the Dalai Lama and the boy was first reshared by Tibetan users with positive titles.
YouTube user "Tibetan happy" posted it on Feb 28 with a title roughly says: "A beautiful picture of the blessing."
YouTube user "Tibetan happy" posted it on Feb 28 with a title roughly says: "A beautiful picture of the blessing."
01:54 AM - May 29, 2023
6/21
It was also posted by a Tibetan YouTube user in Ladakh allaboutladakh on March 1, titled: "little boy asking for 🤗Hug to His holiness Dalai Lama Rinpoche 🙏"
https://www.youtube.com/wa...
https://archive.is/hpPbl
https://www.youtube.com/wa...
https://archive.is/hpPbl
little boy asking for 🤗Hug to His holiness Dalai Lama Rinpoche 🙏 - YouTube
01:56 AM - May 29, 2023
(Edited)
7/21
Another YouTube user karmafilmshorts, who seems to be based in Ladakh, also posted the clip on March 1, with a title: "Lucky boy got a kiss from dalai lama #video #DalaiLama #tibetan #Tibet #ladakh #YouTube #India "
https://www.youtube.com/wa...
https://archive.is/OCKgO
https://www.youtube.com/wa...
https://archive.is/OCKgO
Lucky boy got a kiss from dalai lama #video #dalailama #tibetan #tibet #ladakh #youtube #india - YouTube
01:58 AM - May 29, 2023
8/21
All videos shared by Tibetan users are 2 minutes and 5 seconds long.
The narrative changed on March 31, days after the media reported the Dalai Lama announced the new head of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia.
The narrative changed on March 31, days after the media reported the Dalai Lama announced the new head of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia.
02:22 AM - May 29, 2023
9/21
On March 31, YouTube account karl Andilurs posted the video, shortened to 33 secs long, titled: "VOA Tibetan Buddhism spiritual leader Dalai Lama children rights abuse."
It has fake English chyron + narrator audio
http://web.archive.org/web...
It has fake English chyron + narrator audio
http://web.archive.org/web...
VOA Tibetan Buddhism spiritual leader Dalai Lama children rights abuse. - YouTube
Dalai Lama pinched an Indian boy's face and forced him to kiss his mouth.
02:46 AM - May 29, 2023
10/21
YouTube acct Robert Reed posted the video, 23 secs long, on 1 April 2023, also with a slanderous title: "Dalai Lama inappropriately tongue-kisses boy".
https://archive.is/rrScH
The video was used in Change.org petition: "Save kids from Dalai Lama — let's stop child abuse"
https://archive.is/6zUXQ
https://archive.is/rrScH
The video was used in Change.org petition: "Save kids from Dalai Lama — let's stop child abuse"
https://archive.is/6zUXQ
02:51 AM - May 29, 2023
11/21
YT account Irene Jackline posted the clip, 11 secs long, titled: "The 14th Dalai Lama's t0ngue-kiss!!"
https://archive.is/P1OAn
https://archive.is/P1OAn
02:53 AM - May 29, 2023
12/21
FYI, all the YouTube accounts that posted the short clip with a slanderous title were created on the same day or one day before the clip was uploaded.
And the Dalai Lama clip was the only video posted in the YouTube channels. Regardless, the clip garnered a total of more than 650,000 views.
And the Dalai Lama clip was the only video posted in the YouTube channels. Regardless, the clip garnered a total of more than 650,000 views.
02:56 AM - May 29, 2023
(Edited)
13/21
It became more viral after pro-Beijing Twitter account NiSiv4 posted a 23-second clip calling the monk "Pedo-Dalai Lama" on April 8. In two weeks, it racked up 5.8m views.
http://web.archive.org/web...
http://web.archive.org/web...
03:19 AM - May 29, 2023
(Edited)
14/21
On April 10, a Twitter account of MAGA politician Robby Starbuck posted the same 23-second video.
Both him and his wife Landon push QAnon conspiracy theories.
http://web.archive.org/web...
Both him and his wife Landon push QAnon conspiracy theories.
http://web.archive.org/web...
03:30 AM - May 29, 2023
15/21
Starbuck's video was reshared by Orientalist British social media influencer Oli London, asking: "Why isn’t the media talking about this?"
http://web.archive.org/web...
http://web.archive.org/web...
03:34 AM - May 29, 2023
16/21
Contrary to what Oli London says, the media jumped into the hype with clickbait headlines, publishing the story without asking any Tibetan perspective.
Eg. Indian media NDTV published a story on April 9, headlined: "Dalai Lama Video Goes Viral, Twitter Reacts"
https://archive.is/WB7TF
Eg. Indian media NDTV published a story on April 9, headlined: "Dalai Lama Video Goes Viral, Twitter Reacts"
https://archive.is/WB7TF
03:36 AM - May 29, 2023
17/21
Western media also joined in: BBC, CNN, the Daily Mail, the New York Times, to name a few.
Following Tibetan protest, NDTV has apologised.
https://www.phayul.com/202...
(Other media have not).
Following Tibetan protest, NDTV has apologised.
https://www.phayul.com/202...
(Other media have not).
03:41 AM - May 29, 2023
(Edited)
18/21
In her essay, Tibetan anthropologist Dawa Lokyitsang points out: "Capitalist and imperial interests began aligning and targeting the Dalai Lama, a figure who the Chinese government has continually tried to malign ever since his arrival in India."
thegeopolitics.com
03:47 AM - May 29, 2023
19/21
Tibetan DV counsellor Sang Mota explained the cultural context of the Dalai Lama interaction. She also wrote: "The media’s unprofessional, irresponsible, and purposeful undermining of Tibetan culture caused unprecedented emotional distress to all Tibetans, young and old around the world."
03:53 AM - May 29, 2023
20/21
FYI, the boy and his mother (who was sitting on stage with the Dalai Lama) gave an interview after the event.
"It was amazing meeting the Holiness. I think it's a really great experience meeting somebody with such high positive energy," he said. "It's really a nice feeling meeting him."
"It was amazing meeting the Holiness. I think it's a really great experience meeting somebody with such high positive energy," he said. "It's really a nice feeling meeting him."
It was amazing meeting His Holiness: The boy who asked a hug from The Dalai Lama - YouTube
His Holiness the Dalai Lama recently got involved in a controversy over a video clip that showed his interaction with a young boy who asked for a hug from hi...
03:59 AM - May 29, 2023
(Edited)
21/21
The boy Kiyan Kanodia and his grandfather (also sitting on stage with the Dalai Lama) gave another interview.
"I just can't express how whole it feels," Kiyan said. "It was really a very good experience meeting him ... you feel very positive energy after got blessed by him."
"I just can't express how whole it feels," Kiyan said. "It was really a very good experience meeting him ... you feel very positive energy after got blessed by him."
04:02 AM - May 29, 2023
