[This has prompted speculation that Douyin’s decision to delete the videos was a case of pre-emptive self-censorship rather than a government-ordered ban. Recently, Chinese state media began to take notice of Peppa Pig’s viral fame. There have been numerous incarnations of the cartoon dubbed in Chinese dialects as well as a craze for everything from Peppa Pig temporary tattoos to candy-dispenser watches and, soon, even theme parks.]
By Amy Qin
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Peppa Pig toy at a London shop. Adorable mud-puddle jumper? Gangster?
You
decide. Credit Rob Stothard/Getty Images
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TAIPEI,
Taiwan — First they came for
Winnie the Pooh. Now, it appears China’s censors may have their sights on
another cuddly cartoon character turned subversive symbol: Peppa Pig.
Over the weekend, more than 30,000 videos of
the pink-snouted British character abruptly vanished from Douyin, a popular
Chinese app that streams short videos, according to the English-language
edition of the state-owned Global Times newspaper. On Tuesday afternoon,
searches on the streaming platform for the term “Peppa Pig” yielded no results.
The hashtag #PeppaPig also appears to have been banned.
Douyin, which is owned by the Chinese
technology company Bytedance, has not commented on why it decided to ban videos
about the seemingly innocuous children’s cartoon. On Tuesday, “Peppa Pig”
episodes were still available for viewers to watch on popular streaming
websites like Youku and iQiyi.
This has prompted speculation that Douyin’s
decision to delete the videos was a case of pre-emptive self-censorship rather
than a government-ordered ban. Recently, Chinese state media began to take
notice of Peppa Pig’s viral fame. There have been numerous incarnations of the
cartoon dubbed in Chinese dialects as well as a craze for everything from Peppa
Pig temporary tattoos to candy-dispenser watches and, soon, even theme parks.
Last week, an editorial in the state-run
People’s Daily newspaper expressed concern about whether the proliferation of
counterfeit Peppa Pig merchandise and the constant chasing of fads would have a
negative influence on China’s young generation.
“These are elements that are not conducive to
the healthy development of cultural industries and we must be vigilant,” said
the People’s Daily editorial. “After all, no matter how gangster Peppa Pig is,
it cannot be allowed to destroy children’s youth and go beyond the rules and
the bottom line.”
In an article about Douyin’s deletion of the
videos, Global Times said the porcine cartoon figure had become an “unexpected
cultural icon of shehuiren subculture in China.” The term is often used to
refer to countercultural behavior, including teenage rebellion.
“Shehuiren literally means ‘society person,’
but in the online context, it refers to people who run counter to mainstream
values, and are usually poorly educated, with no stable job,” said the article.
“They are unruly slackers roaming around and the antithesis of the young
generation the Party tries to cultivate.”
The decision to take down the Peppa Pig
videos comes as Bytedance, one of the world’s most highly-valued technology
start-ups, has been tightening operations amid growing government scrutiny.
Just last month, the technology start-up saw
several of its video-sharing apps either shut down or pulled from the app
store. In response to the setbacks, Zhang Yiming, the founder and chief
executive of Bytedance, announced that the company would be expanding the team
that monitors content to 10,000 people from 6,000.
“Content had appeared that did not accord
with core socialist values and was not a good guide for public opinion,” Mr.
Zhang wrote in a statement at the time. “Over the past few years, we put more
effort and resources toward expanding the business, and did not take enough
measures to supervise our platform.”
On the surface, Peppa Pig seems like an ideal
fit for the Chinese government’s vision of an orderly harmonious online
environment aligned with “core socialist values.” The show, which was first
introduced in China in 2015, is centered on the themes of “friendship,
coordination, and feelings,” according to Nick Jr., the children’s television
channel. Each five-minute episode is humorous and lively, the family is close
and loving, and there are no villains.
Outside of China, perhaps the biggest
controversy surrounding the show so far has been that in some of the show’s
earlier episodes, Peppa and her brother George were seen sitting in the car
without seatbelts.
It is that wholesomeness that has made Peppa
Pig’s reincarnation as an edgy symbol of counterculture and youth in China all
the more surprising. As one person on Sina Weibo, China’s microblogging
service, wrote: “Peppa Pig probably never imagined she would become this
popular on Douyin.”
Karoline Kan contributed research.
Follow Amy Qin on Twitter: @amyyqin.