China can't bear Winnie the Pooh, censors character on social media

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The popular cartoon character Winnie–the-Pooh and the only Facebook product allowed in China —WhatsApp — are the latest victims of recent clampdowns on Internet freedom by the Chinese authorities.

Users of Twitter’s Chinese version Weibo and a messaging app WeChat reported problems while posting references about the cartoon character. Winnie-the-Pooh is a cartoon bear from author AA Milne’s children’s book.

The clampdown is because the authorities observed that some people are using the images of Winnie-the-Pooh to show the resemblance to Chinese President Xi Jinping on social media, reported The New York Times. The ruling Communist Party frowns upon the slightest of criticism towards its powerful leader.

The particular images or memes in question show cartoon characters like Eeyore, Winnie and his companion Tigger compared with images of Xi Jinping's meetings with world leaders such as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and former US President Barack Obama.

@MarketPlunger True. Where does Tigger-Obama fit in? pic.twitter.com/Tf01vDsDDR

— Deirdre Bosa (@dee_bosa) November 10, 2014

Trending on Weibo: Abe as Eeyore and Xi as a smug Pooh #APEC pic.twitter.com/lx53FzkVzu

— Deirdre Bosa (@dee_bosa) November 10, 2014

These memes started in 2013 and since then the government’s army of censors have been trying to curb their circulation.

According to a research report, Winnie the Pooh as Xi Jinping was the most censored post on the internet in China in 2015.

On the other hand, users of WhatsApp in the country said that they were also facing problems in sending images, videos and even text messages, according to another NYT report.

China has a history of blocking social media and messaging services.