By Jasmine Lam

Staff Writer

In light of China’s recent crackdown on explicit content, cartoon character Peppa Pig is now being censored from all of China’s internet apps and social media.

As reported by the Global Times, Peppa Pig is an icon for young adults as part of the shehuiren subculture. Though shehuiren is defined as productive member of society in English, in China it translates as a person who has a poor education “and the antithesis of the young generation the Party tries to cultivate.”

Newspapers like People’s Daily expressed their concern for the younger generation in an editorial, stating that Peppa Pig should not be able to ruin the lives of children.

“These are elements that are not conductive to the healthy development of cultural industries and must be vigilant,” stated People’s Daily. “After all, no matter how gangster Peppa Pig is, it cannot be allowed to destroy children’s youth and go beyond the rules and the bottom line.”

According to USA Today, Peppa Pig’s character was edited into videos that contained negative influences such as rap videos and temporary tattoos that may have a negative effect on the younger generation.

On social media apps, Douyin and Weibo, Peppa Pig has been removed from their search bars. Over 30,000 videos were removed from Douyin’s app. Weibo also released a statement, citing that they were only following legal regulations.

The Council on Foreign Relations states that anything that is deemed harmful to the country’s political and economic interests.

Peppa Pig is not the only child cartoon to be censored from internet platforms. Last year, Winnie the Pooh was also censored as Chinese government officials found that the character was being compared to China’s president Xi Jinping.

Peppa Pig is a British televised series that follows Peppa Pig, a cartoon character that goes on adventures with her family and friends. Together, they learn about friendship and cooperation.