Chinese censors apparently have clamped down on Winnie the Pooh, again, since posts comparing the whimsical bear to President Xi Jinping appeared, again. We blame one of Winnie's jokester pals in the Hundred Acre Wood.
Over the weekend users of popular chat app, WeChat, and other social media platforms discovered images and references to Winnie the Pooh had been blocked, noted NBC News.
No official reason had been given for this sudden censorship; however, it's been suggested that posts and memes comparing Pooh Bear to the Chinese president could have sparked the blackout.
The likeness between the two was first noted in 2013 in a meme showing Jinping walking with Barack Obama and, next to the photo was an image of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger.
This sparked a series of memes drawing comparisons between Jinping and Pooh, which led to similar bans in China.
In 2014 social media users poked fun at the Chinese president’s awkward handshake with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe with an image of Winnie the Pooh shaking hands with Eeyore.
In 2015, an image showing Jinping in a parade car and, next to it, an image of Pooh sitting in a toy car became the most censored image of the year, reported Global Risk Insights.
“Making Winnie a persona non grata is the government’s response to a playful trend among Chinese netizens who often compare the Chinese leader to the famous bear,” said the website stated.
Meanwhile, many younger Chinese internet users felt the censorship was extreme.
“I think this is ridiculous,” one Chinese college student told NBC News on Monday. “The Chinese government is being overly sensitive.”
Another student told NBC, “To ban Winnie because someone has compared him to Xi? What the heck, give Pooh and President Xi a break!”
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