After Peppa Pig’s ban in China, seven other cartoons censors have blocked
Peppa Pig was considered too much for a Chinese video app, but it’s not the first time that seemingly innocuous cartoon characters have fallen foul of the censors in China
Chinese citizens are no strangers to the government clamping down on popular culture – often for unclear or seemingly arbitrary reasons.
This week, the internet mocked China’s State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT), a regulatory agency that decides what gets aired, after it ruled that children’s television character Peppa Pig promoted a slacker lifestyle and announced its banning from video sharing app Douyin.
Chinese father dresses as Peppa Pig to sell pancakes to pay for daughter’s medical treatment
The video ban followed a crackdown on Peppa picture books last year, part of a wider campaign against celebrating Western culture. The cartoon pig made her Chinese debut in 2015, and has since become a favoured mascot among adults who identify with shehuiren, or slacker culture.
Peppa is the latest in a line of seemingly innocuous cartoon characters to have fallen foul of Chinese censors. Here, we take a look at other shows banned in China in recent years.
SpongeBob SquarePants
One of the world’s most widely banned cartoons, irreverent Nickelodeon comedy SpongeBob SquarePants was an obvious choice for restriction in China – though perhaps not for the reasons you might imagine.