Oh, bother.
The Chinese censors have clamped down on Winnie the Pooh and images and material from the children’s programme has been blocked on Chinese social networks.
According to Hong Kong Free Press, when you now search for the lovable bear online, a message will pop up saying ‘this content is illegal.’
The clamp down has not been explained by Chinese authorities but people in the country believe it could be down to the fact that the self-described ‘bear of very little brain’ has been compared to their President multiple times.
Winnie the Pooh has been used in memes in the past comparing him to Chinese President Xi Jinping and the posts have been known to anger the President.
The character is known as Little Bear Winnie in China and the comparisons between him and the President began back in 2013 when Chinese social media users began posting images of Pooh and Tigger beside a photograph of Xi Jinping walking with then-US President Barack Obama.
The most popular photo on Weibo in the past 24 hours. pic.twitter.com/iaTE3yVcM5
— XQ (@MissXQ) June 11, 2013
The comparisons didn’t stop there, however. A year later, a photograph of the Chinese President shaking the hand of Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, was matched with an image of Pooh gripping the hoof of his gloomy donkey friend Eeyore.
Chinese Internet users FTW. #APEC2014 pic.twitter.com/6wFDvhlaNv
— Josh Chin (@joshchin) November 10, 2014
The ruling Communist Party in China is highly sensitive to comical depictions of its leader Xi Jinping and the people of China feel the ban has taken place now because the Presidency is up for grabs again later this year and he wants no distractions like this.
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