It’s official. The Chinese government appears to have banned Winnie the Pooh. Apparently, the cartoon bear looks too much like President Xi Jinping–something few may have noticed.
Earlier this week, we learned that Beijing also partially blocked WhatsApp messages in the country because they’re encrypted. A popular workaround used to be to use a virtual private network to access the internet free from snooping eyes. But last week, the government decided those have to go as well, demanding carriers block all VPNs by February 2018. This latest censorship streak reinforces China’s Great Firewall ahead of the 19th Communist Party Congress this fall, when a certain president who resembles a bear will consolidate his power.
