Tibetans believe the Dalai Lama's controversial tongue-suck video has been misinterpreted

Supporters of the Dalai Lama have lashed out in the wake of the spiritual leader's video where he was captured pressuring a boy to 'suck his tongue'.

The video went viral on social media with the 87-year-old has publicly apologized to the boy, his family, and anyone else who was hurt by his actions.

He also says he 'regrets the incident'.

The spiritual leader apologized publicly for his words - not his actions, though - and social media nearly exploded with revulsion.

But now his followers have insisted the controversial exchange between the boy and the leader was standard in Tibetan culture.

As per Vice, Tibetan journalist Tsering Kyi said: "I still remember when the great Christian spiritual leader, Desmond Tutu, visited the Dalai Lama in India, and they hugged and kissed like two pure kids.

"It was a beautiful display of love, but some people with dirty minds interpreted it as something else back then too.

"English is his second language, so sometimes His Holiness uses words that make some people uncomfortable. However, it doesn't necessarily mean that he intends to be negative."

Australian anti-China activist Drew Pavlou tweeted a photo of the meeting between the two leaders.

"Sadly everything in the modern Western world is too hyper sexualised," he wrote.

"The Dalai Lama jokingly made a kissing face to greet his friend Desmond Tutu, only those with a severe case of porn brain could see this as sexual."