What do Brad Pitt, Facebook and time travel have in common? They’re all on the growing list of unusual things that are banned from the internet in China. This week, the Chinese authorities have censored something else – your cherished childhood friend, Winnie the Pooh.
How could anyone cast away this cute character, you ask? Well, it’s because bloggers have been comparing him to the Chinese president, Xi Jinping.
As funny as it seems, the increasing censorship in China is not something to laugh about. Because It’s not just trivial things like Winnie the Pooh that are being banned. Since Xi Jinping came into power, he has also censored a number of international news websites- leaving the people of China with only state-controlled media.
This is a huge issue because it is a direct attack on freedom of speech. Media that is considered a threat, or that sets out to question Xi Jinping and his policies are banned. In 2016, he rolled out a new media policy that states: ‘All the work by the party’s media must reflect the party’s will, safeguard the party’s authority, and safeguard the party’s unity”.
A report by Freedom House finds that out of 65 countries, China was worst abuser of internet freedom. Not only do the authorities block access to websites that go against their political agenda, but many activists have been imprisoned for speaking out against them.
So although at first, it may be your first instinct to laugh hearing the ridiculous news that Xi Jinping has banned Winnie the Pooh from the internet – but the ongoing trend of censorship in China is much larger than fictional characters.
Freedom of speech is a basic, but vital human right that keeps our society free from complete control by political authorities. It’s a right that luckily, we in the UK have. If it wasn’t for freedom of speech, there wouldn’t be democracy – but it seems that it is slowly being hacked away in this country, and many others across the world, too.
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.