Peppa Pig blocked on Chinese video app for association with counterculture

Thousands of videos featuring beloved British cartoon character Peppa Pig have been removed from the Chinese popular short-video app Douyin, according to state media tabloid The Global Times. Douyin is an app that enables users to upload, edit, and share short videos with different effects and stickers. The videos of Peppa Pig reportedly started disappearing over the weekend, and around 30,000 videos have now been removed from the platform.

The British cartoon pig is seen as a subversive “gangster” icon associated with “shehuiren” culture, which refers to people who are poorly educated and unemployed. The Global Times notes shehuiren culture is the “antithesis of the young generation the Party tries to cultivate.” Original cartoons of Peppa Pig are still available online, according to Financial Times, but a notice from Douyin shows any Photoshopped content (like memes) of the character is banned. Other banned content on the platform include nudity, displays of weapons, and cult preachings.

Peppa Pig was introduced to China in 2015, and it is extremely popular in China among children, young adults, and even celebrities. Prominent figures on social media have tweeted memes and wear accessories featuring the famous pig. There are also plans to open two Peppa Pig theme parks in Shanghai and Beijing in 2019.

Parents reportedly expressed concerns in 2017, complaining that their children were addicted to the cartoon show, and a video that went viral featuring the pig included the slogan “Tattoos on Peppa, claps for fella.” Users started posting photos of their Peppa Pig temporary tattoos and Peppa Pig watches and accessories, and the pig’s popularity soared. China has previously banned references to tattoos as part of a crackdown on vulgarity and “low taste content,” as The Independent notes.

Despite the removals from Douyin and the hashtag #PeppaPig being censored, users have workarounds to share Peppa Pig content, including using the hashtags #Piggypiggy and #Peppapeppa.

Peppa Pig isn’t the first cartoon character to get a ban in China. Last year, the country banned Winnie the Pooh for resembling President Xi Jinping. Earlier this year, negative social media reactions in China toward the government’s interest in abolishing presidential term limits also featured Winnie the Pooh memes.

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