World Winnie the Pooh is the latest victim of censorship in China

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“Oh, bother!”

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Guess who was just banned in China? Here’s a hint: He wears an undersized red shirt, lives in the Hundred-Acre Wood, and has an incurable weakness for “hunny.” Yes, that’s right — Winnie the Pooh has just been axed from social media platforms in China for being too politically sensitive.

Over the weekend, users on the Chinese micro-blogging site Weibo found that any mention of the fictional character was being blocked. Typing the Chinese characters for Pooh’s name in comments produces the message “content is illegal,” according to the Financial Times. Animated GIFs and illustrations of the bear have also been taken down from the official gallery of the messaging app WeChat, though user-generated images still exist.

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There's concern that the popular messaging service may be at least partially blocked by authorities in the world's most populous country. WhatsApp users in China reported on Tuesday on other social media platforms that the app was partly inaccessible unless virtual private network software was used to circumvent China's censorship apparatus, known colloquially as The Great Firewall.

Amid media censorship , Winnie the Pooh has surprisingly become too politically sensitive to be It is speculated that the Pooh has been the recent victim of censorship due to its previous The ban is the latest escalation of online censorship in the run-up to this autumn’s Communist party congress

This image of a plastic Winnie the Pooh toy was the most censored post in China last year: The picture was posted on Chinese social media site Weibo at 10:30am on More. China . London Muslims raise thousands for victims of terror attack in Westminster.

No official explanation has been provided for why Christopher Robin’s cuddly best friend has been deemed dangerous by the Chinese government, though pundits speculate it’s probably because of a viral meme that has likened Chinese President Xi Jinping to Pooh.

“Oh,bother” — a long history between Xi and Pooh

The comparisons began in 2013, when Chinese social media users began circulating a picture of Xi walking with President Obama next to a picture of Pooh walking with his taller, more slender friend, Tigger. The resemblance was too uncanny (and too adorable) to ignore.

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The comparison continued in 2014, when a picture of Xi posing next to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at an international conference was likened to an image of Pooh with his donkey friend Eeyore.

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have been removed from China ’s Twitter-like social media platform Weibo, as the honey-loving bear falls victim to China ’s notorious internet censorship laws. A year later , a collage of Mr Xi standing through the roof of a parade car paired with an image of a Winnie the Pooh toy car was branded

China ’s army of internet censors have picked an unusual target in their battle to wipe dissent from the country’s computer screens: Winnie the Pooh and Tigger.

And in 2015, a collage that placed a picture of Xi standing up through the roof of a parade car next to a picture of Pooh in his toy car became the most censored image in China for that year, reported Global Risk Insights, a political analysis group founded in London. Right after the parade, a picture of just Pooh in his toy car was shared more than 65,000 times on Weibo before it was taken down, reported the BBC.

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Pooh is the latest victim in an ongoing crackdown

While many Chinese netizens have been tickled by the repeated comparisons between Xi and Pooh, the humor is lost on the Chinese Community Party, which sees these memes as demeaning to Xi, the general secretary for the CCP. Tensions are particularly high in light of the CCP’s upcoming national congress — a twice-a-decade event that often marks important changes in party leadership.

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Winnie the Pooh banned by China . Apparently Pooh doesn't just look cute, he also looks politically powerful. By Yeo Kaiqi | 2 hours. Victim of Boon Tat stabbing was allegedly dating a 30 year old "pretty mom" whilst still married to wife.

Censorship has proven to be an effective propaganda arm of totalitarian regimes, but it isn’t limited to China . Winnie the Pooh has become too politically sensitive to even be mentioned on Chinese social media. The bear’s blackout is the latest escalation of online censorship in the run-up to this

So even though the government’s ban on Pooh has been thrust into the media spotlight over the weekend, the yellow bear is really just the latest victim in an ongoing crackdown on political content that might threaten the smooth handover of power this fall.

Last week, the letters “RIP” were blocked on Weibo following the death of the Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. Other symbolic references to Xi, such as the Chinese breakfast food "baozi," which is a reference to the president's nickname, "Steamed Bun Xi,"have also been taken down. The nickname was popularized in 2014, after Xi was photographed eating at a steamed bun restaurant in Beijing. Xi’s visit was seen by many as an attempt to show that he was in touch with the common folk, but the symbol of “baozi” has since been appropriated by protestors to call on the government to address their economic woes.

Yet despite their efforts, it’s not clear that this ban will end all comparisons between Xi and Pooh. This meme has persisted for years, even though the government has consistently removed posts that evoke it. More likely than not, Chinese netizens will find a way around this ban once a photographer snaps a shot of Xi that even mildly resembles a scene from the Hundred-Acre Wood.