Chinese video app Douyin blocks Peppa Pig as the cartoon character represents 'subversive culture'

According to the Global Times, the popular British preschool animated television series Peppa Pig was frecently discontinued from Douyin, a video sharing platform in China, which deleted more than 30,000 clips. Moreover, the hashtag #PeppaPig was also banned.

The television series is directed and produced by Astley Baker Davies in association with Entertainment One, which originally aired on 31 May 2004.

The innocent cartoon’s downfall appears to be no fault of its creators. Rather, the problem is with Peppa’s association with counterculture memes and “society people”, which is a slang term for lowlifes and gangsters.

In recent months, the Peppa Pig became a "subculture icon" in China after memes featuring the pink cartoon pig were shared widely on the internet, according to the State-owned media.

A lot of social media users including celebrities, also posted photos of themselves with Peppa Pig stick-on tattoos and wearing Peppa Pig apparel.

In recent months, Peppa Pig was associated with the "shehuiren" subculture, which usually refers to people associated with organised crime, but can also refer to people who "run counter to the mainstream".

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The ones who uploaded Peppa Pig tattoos and merchandise and make Peppa-related jokes “run counter to the mainstream value and are usually poorly educated with no stable job”, . “They are unruly slackers roaming around and the antithesis of the young generation the [Communist] party tries to cultivate.”

Peppa Pig's cartoon video, both real and temporary became viral, as the Pig used to speak in various regional dialects. Some memes have taken on dark undertones, occasionally veering into violent or pornographic territory. Pornography is illegal in China and laws banning it are strictly enforced.

The cartoon was introduced to Chinese audience in 2015 when the cartoons were aired on state broadcaster CCTV, and has since become immensely popular. Two Peppa Pig theme parks, in Beijing and Shanghai, are set to open next year.

Douyin’s sister app, a news aggregator called Jinri Toutiao, was suspended from Chinese app stores for three weeks after the government determined it hosted inappropriate content.

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