Radio Free Asia (RFA) quoted Tibetan sources on May 30, 2017, as reporting that following the rise in self-immolations by Tibetans in Tibetan areas in the first five months of 2017 alone, the authorities have intensified monitoring of internet communications, with police regularly monitoring social media sites for evidence of news-sharing outside the area. WeChat is being especially watched. Tibetans who were put into Chinese jails and then released are watched even more closely.

(Comment: This year there have been four self-immolations reported in Tibetan areas inside China. Of these there has been one in Sichuan in March, and one in Qinghai and one near Bora monastery in Gansu, both in May. There have thus far been a total of 150 self-immolations since these began in 2009.)