Tsering Dhundup
DHARAMSHALA, Mar. 5: Global social media giant Meta has uncovered an extensive covert influence operation originating from China, designed to spread disinformation about the Tibetan spiritual leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and target the Tibetan exile community.
In its fourth-quarter 2024 Adversarial Threat Report, Meta revealed that it had detected and removed 18 fake Facebook accounts linked to the operation, along with two pages, four groups, and five Instagram accounts. The influence campaign sought to discredit the Dalai Lama and mislead audiences about his health while amplifying narratives favourable to Chinese interests.
According to Meta, all the removed accounts and pages were traced back to China and were designed to target the Tibetan exile community, particularly in India, Nepal, and Bhutan. The campaign extended beyond Facebook and Instagram to other platforms, including X and Blogspot.
“The individuals behind this activity used fake accounts—many of which were detected and disabled by our automated systems before our investigation—to manage pages, post, and amplify other people’s content,” Meta stated in its report. The company also disclosed that the operation employed proxy IPs to conceal its true origins, making the accounts appear as if they were based in India, Bhutan, or Nepal.
Among the deceptive accounts, one impersonated a journalist from India’s north-eastern border state of Arunachal Pradesh, while most others pretended to be Tibetan expatriates. These accounts re-shared news and content about Tibet while amplifying anti-Dalai Lama narratives. The network primarily posted in English and Tibetan, spreading conspiracy theories regarding the Dalai Lama’s health and travel and alleging that the United States was using him as leverage against China.
The report also revealed that the campaign frequently amplified anti-Dalai Lama content shared by seemingly authentic voices, directing audiences to websites like Storify News, Dakini Translations and Publications, and a Change.org petition.
Meta uncovered this latest activity through an internal investigation into suspected recidivist behaviour linked to previous networks removed in the third quarter of 2023. In that report, Meta had taken down 12 accounts and seven groups originating from China that targeted Tibet and Arunachal Pradesh.
The removed content was found to be in violation of Meta’s policy against coordinated inauthentic behaviour, which prohibits strategic manipulation of public discourse through fake accounts. According to the company, approximately 2,400 accounts followed at least one of the removed Facebook pages, while 120 accounts had joined the eliminated groups. On Instagram, around 100 accounts followed at least one of the removed profiles.
“We took down this network before its operators were able to build an audience among authentic communities on our apps,” Meta emphasised.
The revelation, observers say, displays China’s ongoing digital influence operations, particularly against Tibetan communities and their leaders. The findings reflect broader geopolitical tensions, as China has long sought to control narratives surrounding Tibet and its exiled spiritual leader.
One Response
Claiming itself as a devout student of the 17th Karmapa Orgyen Trinley Dorje, Adele Tomlin – the mastermind of Dakini Translations and Publications – has long been suspected to be backed by the Chinese government to sneak into Buddhist circles to foment internal discords by pretending to do unauthorized translation work. Besides being infamous for its prejudice against the Dalai Lama and Gelugpas, it is also a hardcore anti-Karmapa who competes with the Karmapa’s official websites by setting up its own unauthorized versions of Karmapa’s teachings and aggressively promote its website on social media so as to divert people who want to learn from the Karmapa to its website, away from the Karmapa’s official websites. All its followers are then methodically groomed to become crippled through spiritual atrophy. Any dissenting voices are simply blocked and deleted – no open exchange is possible. Consequently, Dakini Translations has been banned by numerous Facebook groups from posting; however, two Facebook groups – “Sikkimese Buddhist Comunity” and “Karmapa to rumtek” – suspiciously remain loyal to support its heinous deeds, going against the Buddha’s teachings by ignoring an open letter to request blocking and deleting its posts (searchable on Facebook). It appears to continue seeking new Facebook groups to enact its malicious plots. Currently the public remains steadfast awaiting its official statement and apology on a list of unresolved questions (searchable on Youtube), despite the publishing of its “Karmapa Khyenno” music track mixed with erotic moaning and groaning and using an image representative of the vagina as the music cover. The music track is intended to silence any unresolved questions posed by the higher minds by encouraging listeners to engage with the lower bodies, blatantly committing a sacrilege by relegating the sacred mantra “Karmapa Khyenno” to a mere sex prop to either masturbate or fornicate during solemn chanting. Strong evidence of its affiliation with the Chinese government and analyses of its venomous plots to overthrow Vajrayana Buddhism can be freely studied on the blog listed on the YouTube channel. Any association with Dakini Translations and Publications pending its official clarification is a sure ticket to hell realms.