BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • BBC Trending

PewDiePie: No, the world's biggest YouTuber is not banned in China

  • Published
    25 October 2019
Share page
About sharing
A screenshot of PewDiePie from one of his YouTube videosImage source, PewDiePie/YouTube
Image caption,

PewDiePie is the most popular YouTuber in the world with more than 100 million subscribers

By Tom Gerken & Kerry Allen
BBC UGC & BBC Monitoring

Has China really banned PewDiePie?

You would be forgiven for thinking so. After all, several major international news websites have written headlines about the world's most popular YouTuber being "wiped" or "banned" from the internet in China.

But there is one tiny problem - it did not happen.

Fanpages for PewDiePie still exist on Chinese social media, and a cursory search for his name on Baidu - China's Google - returns 8.28 million results.

PewDiePie himself originally claimed to have been banned, external in a video on Saturday but he later appeared to make light of the supposed block, suggesting he was not being completely serious.

He joked on Twitter that he had punched a wall in outrage.

A tweet from PewDiePie. It reads: "Just found out I'm banned in China. Sucks so hard dude."Image source, PewDiePie/Twitter
Image caption,

PewDiePie's tongue-in-cheek tweet, with a few foul words blurred out

Presentational white space

"Well boys, we did it," he said in Saturday's video, which has been viewed 6.5m times. "I'm banned from China."

He continued: "I spoke about the Hong Kong protests, external, and showed their leader being mocked for looking like Winnie the Pooh."

He added searches for his name now bring up no results on certain forums and video platforms.

But did not mention that searches for him on video sites like iQiyi and Tencent Video still return tens of thousands of results.

Chinese authorities have banned any comparison between President Xi Jinping and Disney character Winnie the Pooh since 2017.

Put simply, the government is extremely sensitive about how the president is regarded and seeks to maintain the perception he is loved and praised by the country's 1.4bn population.

The Pooh comparisons were propelled back into the public consciousness in October 2019 when a South Park episode heavily criticised the Chinese government.

A still from South Park. Prisoners are making toys in grim conditionsImage source, South Park/Comedy Central
Image caption,

South Park character Randy Marsh (left) later sees a guard shooting a prisoner in the head

The show was subsequently largely made unavailable in China, with any search for it on social media and video websites returning no results.

But this has not happened to PewDiePie: Some content related to the YouTuber has indeed been made inaccessible online, such as a Baidu-run forum about him which has removed messages and even prevented people from posting new comments.

But there is no evidence to suggest this was done on the orders of the government.

  • PewDiePie cancels $50k Anti Defamation League donation

  • The Hong Kong protests explained in 100 and 500 words

  • Few convinced by Apple's case for Hong Kong app removal

In China, the general rule for censorship is: if something is too violent, sexualised, or goes against the government's message, it will be banned from the country.

Several manga and anime (Japanese comics and cartoons) are banned for the first two reasons.

Meanwhile celebrities are usually barred for the third reason. For example, Lady Gaga was reportedly denied a Chinese visa in 2016 over her meeting with the Dalai Lama.

With regards to PewDiePie, the censorship of the forum seems to be Baidu acting out of an abundance of caution.

The government has certainly not demanded that the search engine erase mentions of PewDiePie. A search for his name still returns more than eight million results.

Search results on Baidu in ChineseImage source, Baidu
Image caption,

The top three results are about PewDiePie's international audience, his YouTube videos, and one of his apologies

A similar search on China's Twitter-like social media site Weibo produces plenty of results, including videos translated by Chinese fans and fanpages.

So what does a ban backed by the Chinese government look like?

Well, consider this search on Baidu for President Xi's daughter, Xi Mingze.

Search results on Baidu in ChineseImage source, Baidu
Image caption,

"Sorry, there are no results for Xi Mingze"

This is what a blanket ban looks like in China: an internet search for the president's daughter produces zero results, as though she does not exist.

One thing to remember is PewDiePie found success on a social media platform which cannot be accessed in China.

YouTube has been unavailable since 2009, so celebrities who gained mass popularity there are not necessarily similarly popular in China. And of course the country has its own massive established base of online celebrities that draws from a huge pool of more than 400 million live-streamers.

So while it is conceivable his comments have attracted censors' attention, PewDiePie simply has not been banned from the internet in China.

He might just not be popular enough for the censors to bother with.

More on this story

  • South Park in mock apology after China censorship

    • Published
      8 October 2019
    Secene from South park episode "Band in China"
  • Glitch reveals young vlogger as middle-aged

    • Published
      30 July 2019
    Your Highness Qiaobiluo without a filter and with a filter
  • Why China censors banned Winnie the Pooh

    • Published
      17 July 2017
    Shinzo Abe, Xi Jinping and Winni the Pooh characters

Top stories

  • Live. 

    Aid drops a 'distraction' with Gaza starvation deepening, UN agency boss says

    • 3300 viewing3.3k viewing
  • Security tightens as Donald Trump plays golf at Turnberry

    • Published
      43 minutes ago
  • Gregg Wallace 'sorry' but says he's 'not a groper'

    • Published
      12 hours ago

More to explore

  • Why we need to talk about periods, breasts and injuries in women's sport

    Chloe running towards the camera with her arms to her sides, wearing white shorts and white sports bra with her England shirt twirled up in her right hand, screaming with joy, blonde hair flying
  • How reality TV changed the way we think - for the better

    A treated image showing an old TV screen with a close up eye
  • Sleep, exercise, hydrate - do we really need to stick to recommended daily doses?

    A woman wearing black leggings and pink athletic shoes, standing on a set of black steps. One foot is placed on a higher step while the other remains on a lower one, suggesting an exercise or stretching.
  • ​​What is inside the GHF food aid box being distributed in Gaza?

    An image showing a young man carrying an box of aid with the GHF logo emblazoned on it. He is wearing a dark shirt with Nike Air written on it. Several other people are walking alongside him, and the image is imposed over the BBC Verify branding and colours.
  • School-leavers losing their lives for Russia in Putin's war with Ukraine

    Separate photos of two boys, one in a white judo outfit and the other a black tracksuit top
  • French pledge to recognise Palestine is a gamble - so will Starmer follow suit?

    Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron
  • How Epstein case is tearing apart Maga's online conspiracy wing

    Red hats with Donald Trump's Maga logo are handed out at an event
  • Why is River Island in trouble?

    A group of young people walk past a River Island store with sale signs in the window
  • News Daily: Our flagship daily newsletter delivered to your inbox first thing, with all the latest headlines

    A promo promoting the News Daily newsletter - a graphic of an orange sphere with two concentric crescent shapes around it in a red-orange gradient, like a sound wave.
loading elsewhere stories

Most read

  1. 1

    Security tightens as Donald Trump plays golf at Turnberry

  2. 2

    'My dad started spying on my mum' - the drugs causing sexual urges

  3. 3

    World's thirst for matcha dries up global supplies

  4. 4

    Sleep, exercise, hydrate - do we really need to stick to recommended daily doses?

  5. 5

    Why we need to talk about periods, breasts and injuries in women's sport

  6. 6

    Gregg Wallace 'sorry' but says he's 'not a groper'

  7. 7

    School-leavers losing their lives for Russia in Putin's war with Ukraine

  8. 8

    'We were sure we wouldn't bump into each other at uni'

  9. 9

    Five killed as Ukraine and Russia trade drone attacks

  10. 10

    Summer of stink: Inside America's garbage labour dispute

BBC News Services

  • On your mobile
  • On smart speakers
  • Get news alerts
  • Contact BBC News

Best of the BBC

  • New drama from writer Jimmy McGovern

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Unforgivable
  • The Bafta award-winning comedy returns

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Such Brave Girls
  • An epic road trip across Vietnam

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Top Gear
  • Amol Rajan and Billy Bragg chat politics

    • Attribution
      iPlayer
    Radical with Amol Rajan
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • Terms of Use
  • About the BBC
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookies
  • Accessibility Help
  • Parental Guidance
  • Contact the BBC
  • Make an editorial complaint
  • BBC emails for you

Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.