Image copyrightGetty Images/ Rob StothardImage caption Peppa Pig is the latest subject of China’s censors
A popular British cartoon has been removed from one of China’s most well known social media platforms, with government media saying that the character is being used subversively.
Social media customers in the country noticed video clips of the cartoon were being removed on Saturday, and on Monday, state newspaper Global Times said that the #PeppaPig hashtag had been removed from the Douyin video website, while searches for “Peppa Pig” on the website rendered no results.
Many papers likewise note that the platform appears to have added “Peppa Pig” to its list of blacklisted content.
The Peppa Pig cartoon is enormously popular in China, but despite being targeted at a pre-school audience, it has determined mass appeal with Chinese adults in recent months.
Its characters have become a common are available in memes, including sexually suggestive content.
“After Peppa Pig started to take on this subversive hue and subsequently move viral, some experts said here popularity of the cartoon demonstrates the social psychology of hunting for originality and spoofing, which could potentially hamper positive societal morale, ” Global Times said.
Beijing seems keen to appease subversive exuberance for the cartoon by trying to promote friendly domestic swine cartoons instead.
Wildly popular
Peppa Pig has been long popular with children in China, and has attracted some 34 billion views on domestic online video platforms.
It was exported to China in the early 2000 s, and over 100 translated episodes have aired in the mainland.
Image copyrightAlamyImage caption Peppa Pig first aired on TV in 2004
It is shown on the children’s channel on the part of states broadcaster CCTV, and likewise hosted on a number of digital platforms, such as the Netflix-like website iQiyi.
In recent weeks, however, mainstream media have noticed a mass appeal of the Peppa Pig cartoon among adults.
Image copyrightDOUYINImage caption Verified Chinese media outlets are sharing screengrabs showing “Peppa Pig” is blacklisted on Douyin
‘The Peppa Pig virus’
Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post notes that there has been a recent frenzy for Peppa Pig products online, with customers paying hundreds of yuan for good such as “antique-style” Peppa Pig porcelain bowls.
The Sina Entertainment website has also noted the popularity of the cartoon’s plush playthings and fairytale cakes among actresses Yang Mi, Nana Ou-yang and Zhao Liying, among others.
It is not only women with a squeaky clean image that have caught what Sina calls “the Peppa Pig virus”; the website shares a number of edgy male actors and singers showing off Peppa Pig, plus playthings and transfer tattoos.
The wave triggered a trend of adult Chinese Sina Weibo consumers sharing photographs of their own Peppa Pig merchandise.
Thousands of female customers have shared pictures of pink fans and hair accessories adorned with the lead character, while male customers have shared pictures of their stickers and watches.
‘Explicit fake versions’
In recent months, government media have signalled the increased discomfort about the growing influence of the cartoon.
They have noted that its characters have become the subject of what they call deviance and manipulation among Chinese youths.
Nationalist newspaper Global Times noted in January that social media consumers had been circulating “explicit fake versions” of the cartoon online, making references to paedophiles and sexual organs.
And a recent article on the popular news portal Sohu notes that there’s been a particular surge of social media customers constructing personalised emojis and memes out of stills of the cartoon.
It says that this has was especially the lawsuit on the Snapchat-like mobile application Douyin – potentially leading to the ban.
A new animal in town
Image copyrightSINA WEIBOImage caption Thousands of Weibo consumers are posting photographs of themselves with “Little Dodo” the swine
Douyin’s removal of the popular cartoon from its platform is perhaps simply the start of a wider clampdown.
It arrives as part of a wider crackdown on online content the Beijing government deems vulgar or pornographic.
In recent months, Chinese microblogs such as Sina Weibo have been extensively removing such content from their platforms, stressing that such substance is not in keeping with a healthy online culture.
Given China’s millions of online customers, it is extremely difficult to simply censor all content when a Tv display or personality has been demonstrated so popular. Beijing ordinarily takes steps to launching a domestically-approved version, and this is what has happened with Peppa Pig.
One Chinese mobile app, Suishoupai, has launched the character “Little Pig Dodo”, which the Sina Weibo microblog has widely publicised.
It encourages consumers of Douyin to switch to Suishoupai, and to switch their Peppa Pig fascination for a Dodo the swine. Thousands of users have subsequently registered, and posted pictures of themselves next to emojis of the state-approved pig.
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Image copyright Getty Images/ Rob Stothard Image caption Peppa Pig is the latest subject of China’s censors 
