bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Josh Ye

This article originally appeared on ABACUS
You’ve probably seen their crudely drawn faces before, used in comics on the web. Now these simple cartoons are under fire in China.
Rage comics have been a viral staple for years. The visuals are deliberately unsophisticated -- mostly black and white, with faces looking like they were drawn by a child in MS Paint.
But those simple faces are used to show extreme emotion, whether deep shame, sadness, sarcasm or, of course, fiery rage -- often at situations that shouldn’t trigger that level of anger.
These comics are huge in China. Baozoumanhua.com has over 10 million followers on Weibo and 245,000 subscribers on YouTube -- a site that’s blocked in China.

It’s so big that Netflix announced at the Cannes Film Festival that it’s spending US$30 million on a film based on the rage comic 7723. The film will star the voices of Charlyne Yi, Jason Sudeikis, David Cross and Michael Peña.
But on Friday, Baozou’s Weibo account suddenly disappeared.
Weibo said it deleted its account because Baozou made fun of a revered communist martyr, citing the newly enacted “Heroes and Martyrs Protection Law” against slandering communist heroes.

Baozou was actually first banned by Toutiao, the news aggregator -- followed by Weibo, Youku, Zhihu and many other publishing platforms in China.
Baozou then apologized for breaking the law, saying it would indefinitely suspend the operations of its website and apps. The company said it will also educate all of its staff members on the relevant laws.
Toutiao took issue with a video which Baozou published in 2014. In the video, a host wearing a “rage face” mask told a joke about Dong Cunrui, who blew himself up to destroy a bunker during China’s civil war.
It’s not the first time humor sites have been under fire. Toutiao’s own humor site, Neihan Duanzi, was forced offline after it was criticized for “misleading and vulgar content”.
Why did a Chinese video site ban Peppa Pig?
 

For more insights into China tech, sign up for our tech newsletters, subscribe to our Inside China Tech podcast, and download the comprehensive 2019 China Internet Report. Also roam China Tech City, an award-winning interactive digital map at our sister site Abacus.



Hong Kong travel agency backs out of Taiwan trip over controversial film screening

Indian Kashmir police pressure journalists to sign ‘peace’ pledges, sparking censorship fears

Why did the Hong Kong Film Awards drop 4 eligible films from its 2026 list?

US hits 5 Europeans with visa bans in ‘censorship’ row

Censorship

Rage comics banned in China after jokes about a communist martyr

Baozou has gotten so big that it makes videos as well as comics. (Picture: Baozou)

Rage comics banned in China after jokes about a communist martyr

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Crudely drawn comics have a huge following in China

Crudely drawn comics have a huge following in China