Two Democratic lawmakers are calling on NBCUniversal not to broadcast "whitewashed Chinese government accounts" about the country's human rights violations during the 2022 Olympics.

Sen. Jeff Merkley and Rep. James McGovern said the company should use its platform as an official Olympics broadcaster to provide viewers with background information about human rights concerns in China, such as genocide against the country's Uyghur population and crackdowns on press freedoms.

HOUSE PASSES LEGISLATION CONDEMNING CHINA'S TREATMENT OF UYGHURS AMID DIPLOMATIC BOYCOTT OF OLYMPICS

"We urge your organization to not legitimize the Chinese government’s attempts to use the Olympics, once again, to sportswash the poor treatment of ethnic minorities, civil society activists, and political dissidents in Xinjiang, Hong Kong, Tibet and abroad," they said in a Thursday letter to NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell.

Merkley and McGovern encouraged NBCUniversal to push Chinese authorities to support freedom of media and religion during the games, saying the company successfully pushed China to pledge to support free media during the 2008 games.

The company should refrain from broadcasting ethnic minorities in China in their traditional dress, the lawmakers argued, claiming such footage could reinforce China's propagandized efforts to portray groups such as the Uyghurs as "happy minorities."

Merkley and McGovern, who serve as chairman and co-chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, cited NBC affiliates' refusal to back down from covering Russia's anti-LGBT propaganda law amid the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi as a precedent for standing up for human rights.

In 2014, the Chinese government began detaining members of its Uyghur minority population in "reeducation camps," citing concerns about the Uyghur Muslims engaging in Islamic extremism and separatist activities. The U.S. government has accused China of engaging in forced sterilization and other human rights violations in those camps and claimed China is committing "cultural genocide" against the Uyghurs, an allegation the Chinese government strongly denies.

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The 2022 Winter Olympic games are currently set to take place in Beijing. The United States, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom, and Canada announced that they would engage in a diplomatic boycott of the games, despite vows of retaliation from China.

The Washington Examiner reached out to NBCUniversal for comment but did not receive a response.