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(CNN) - A cartoon character for children became the unlikely victim of China's constant urge to clean up cyberspace.
Douyin, a popular video platform among millennials, prevented its users from sharing what state media called "subversive" memes related to Peppa Pig, the British animated series for preschool children.
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State tabloid Global Times reported Monday that at least 30,000 videos with the #PeppaPig tag were removed from the platform.
Peppa Pig is a fairly famous program that is broadcast worldwide. For a long time, it has been a favorite of parents and children in China, but in recent months the character has become popular among certain celebrities and their fans, who shared images and videos of products with the Peppa brand.
"I don't know how Peppa Pig's meme took off in Douyin, but for me it's like a remedy for stress because it seems so innocent and silly," said Nanxin Cao, a 25-year-old analyst working at a consulting firm in Beijing.
The love for Peppa Pig has already crossed the urban culture in China: some teenagers and youngsters in their 20s get tattoos of the character, who represent the innocent little pig as a mafia or pirate.
An internal note from Douyin - dated last week and reviewed by CNN - indicated that the censors demanded that the platform stop publishing videos in which Peppa Pig appeared “spreading negative social influence”.
Bytedance, the parent company of Douyin, did not immediately respond to a request from CNN to comment on this story. It seems that Peppa Pig related content was affected on other social media platforms.
Chen Nian, an analyst at Gsdata - a consulting firm dedicated to monitoring social networks in China - said in a statement that Peppa's "street" reputation in memes and parodies was a "meaningless joke" with which young people found A way to rebel.
"The contradictory features of a 'thug' and the innocent Peppa Pig make people laugh," Chen explained. "It is an act of rebellion in the subculture," he insisted.
“Subversive tone”
If Peppa's popularity is a joke, the government seems not to be understanding. The Global Times tabloid noted that Peppa's meme as a gangster has a "subversive tone" that could "potentially hinder positive social morale."
China already has one of the most controlled online environments in the world. And the censors have intensified their efforts to control the fast-growing social networks in the country, after President Xi Jinping called for the creation of a "clean cyberspace."
- READ: Internet censors in China go against ... Winnie the Pooh
Online content that has been the victim of the strictest censorship rules includes LGBT and feminist voices, hip hop and "vulgar" jokes, a trend that has affected some of China's largest and most popular online platforms, and that It has alarmed business analysts and rights followers.
The Peppa Pig series was officially presented in China in 2015 by the state channel CCTV. Its popularity quickly exploded among young children and parents, accumulating with 34,000 million views on the three main domestic online video platforms combined.
CensorshipEntertainmentPeppa Pig
