For decades, the Chinese government has curated how the world sees Mongolian culture—packaging it as colorful, compliant, and “traditional.” But this carefully managed image erases what is actually happening—the systematic destruction of a once-vibrant digital ecosystem where Mongolian language, culture, and dissent flourished beyond state control.

The reality of life for Mongolians living in China, largely in the autonomous region known as Inner Mongolia, is a brutal and uncompromising repression of their voices—both on and offline. This repression should be setting off alarm bells around the world because of the precedent it sets about the harassment and surveillance of people who speak out against the government. It also reaches into Mongolian communities living outside of China.

As technology advanced globally, digital communities became essential hubs for Mongolians to communicate, preserve their language, and create new music and art. This dynamic and creative use of technology to support a minority culture was at odds with the Chinese government’s desire for uniformity and control.

But new research from PEN America’s Freedom to Write Center shows that nearly 89% of known Mongolian-language websites have either been shut down, restricted, or converted into Mandarin Chinese, with all mentions of Mongolian culture removed or sanitized to fit the China-approved narrative.

Taking the eradication further, more than 200 songs in Mongolian have been removed from online music libraries—including protest songs about the death of a Mongolian herdsman who was killed while defending his land from a Chinese mining company. The end result is that more than six million people are having their language ripped away from them.

Tech companies are complicit. There are several documented examples of how US companies have apparently helped power and enable the repression of free expression and culture in China, from companies like Microsoft pre-emptively censoring search results in order to operate in China, to cloud hosting company Vultr carrying out Tencent's request to shut down GreatFire.org, which uses AI to track censorship. Additionally, multiple US companies like IBM and Dell have enabled the spread of the surveillance infrastructure that has targeted minorities in China. By caving to state pressure, tech companies become willing enforcers of Chinese state narratives and human rights violations, not only in China but across the world as well.

All of this amounts to a blatant violation of Mongolians’ rights to free expression, language, and identity, and it shows what could happen the world over if private tech and social media companies continue to cave to government demands.

Published Date:2026-04-03