The Chinese government deleted all traces of the Comedy Central show “South Park” from the Internet in China, after the show mocked Hollywood’s willingness to please the country’s authoritarian regime.
The most recent episode, aptly named “Band in China,” critiqued Hollywood studios that steer clear of producing any content that would offend the Chinese government, lest they face censorship. Of course, the Chinese predictably responded with more censorship, deleting all clips, episodes, and any discussion threads related to the show.
The Hollywood Reporter noted that searches across Chinese social media sites such as Weibo find zero mentions of the show, and previously available episodes and seasons on its streaming service Youku are now dead.
Part of the “Band in China” episode’s storyline includes an imprisoned Winnie the Pooh character, referencing the Chinese government’s aggressive censoring of the children’s book character after Internet users compared Chinese President Xi Jinping to the small bear.
In recent years, Hollywood studios have been accused of pressuring filmmakers to avoid negative portrayals of China in their movies. A trailer released in July for the “Top Gun” movie revealed that Tom Cruise’s character, Maverick, does not have the same original flag patches on his jacket. The jacket in the new film shows that the original film’s Japanese and Taiwanese flags commemorating a tour of the USS Galveston are now missing.
In 2012, China pressured Sony to cut scenes from the movie “Men in Black 3” that featured actor Will Smith and aliens disguising themselves as Chinese restaurant workers, who later wipe the memory of...
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