Peppa Pig, subversive symbol of the counterculture, in China video site ban

The latest subversive symbol in China is a small pink cartoon pig: Peppa Pig to be precise.

The wildly popular children’s character was recently scrubbed from Douyin, a video sharing platform in China, which deleted more than 30,000 clips. The hashtag #PeppaPig was also banned, according to the Global Times, a state-run tabloid newspaper, the Guardian reports.

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

People who upload videos of 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”, the Global Times said. “They are unruly slackers roaming around and the antithesis of the young generation the [Communist] party tries to cultivate.”

Peppa Pig’s popularity among adults has manifested itself in a number of ways.

Footage of tattoos, both real and temporary, have become viral hits, as have fan videos of the pig speaking 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.

This is not the first time the cartoon has fallen foul of the censors. Peppa Pig was swept up in a crackdown last year aimed at children’s picture books, when authorities ordered publishers to reduce the number of foreign titles released in China, part of a wider campaign against western influence.

Peppa Pig was introduced to Chinese audiences 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.

While censorship has expanded under President Xi Jinping, Peppa’s demise on Douyin may be a simple case of an overcautious company. 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.