Bizarre – but true. Over 30,000 videos of the British cartoon pig have been removed from Chinese video-streaming app Douyin – after the beloved children’s character became a ‘subculture icon’ there.
Though it’s aimed at pre-schoolers, it turns out ‘Peppa’ has a growing fan base in young Chinese with people sharing ‘Peppa’ memes and uploading photos of themselves with Peppa Pig tattoos (please be fake) in recent months.
While it’s not known if the ban is self-imposed by Douyin or China’s official censors, the state-run Global Times reported this week that Ruling Party now considers the innocent pig to be associated with the Chinese slacker or “gangster” subculture called shehuiren – who are “the antithesis of the young generation the Party tries to cultivate.”
It wouldn’t be the first time a cartoon character has attracted the Chinese censors however. Earlier this year, Winnie the Pooh was banned from social media after a series of memes compared the portly bear to President Xi Jinping.
Well, if the meme fits?
