A children’s cartoon character has become an unlikely victim of China’s ongoing push to clean up cyberspace.
Peppa Pig is hugely popular and broadcast around the world, it has long been a favorite of Chinese parents and toddlers but in recent months the character has become popular among certain celebrities and their fans, who shared images and videos of Peppa merchandise.
“I don’t know how the Peppa Pig meme took off from Douyin, but to me, it’s like a stress reliever as it looks so innocent and dumb,” said Nanxin Cao, a 25-year-old analyst working at a consulting firm in Beijing.
Peppa mania has even crossed over into street culture in China, with some teens and twenty-somethings getting Peppa tattoos depicting the innocent piglet as a gangster or pirate. There’s even a trending phrase that some translate as “get your Peppa Pig tatt, shout out to your frat.”
An internal Douyin memo dated last week and reviewed by CNN said censors had demanded the platform stop publishing videos that showed Peppa Pig “spreading negative social influence.”
Bytedance, Douyin’s parent company, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Peppa Pig-related content doesn’t appear to have been affected on other social media platforms.
