PewDiePie banned in China after criticizing Blizzard, Xi Jinping

Olivia Richman Published 25/10/2019

“Well boys, we did it. I’m banned from China. That’s right.”

That was YouTuber Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg’s first statement on his video appropriately titled, “PewDiePie is BANNED in China.”

The Swedish YouTube star goes on to explain that he found out he was banned in China after he spoke up about not only the Hong Kong protests, but also compared the Chinese president to Winnie the Pooh, who is also banned in China.

PewDiePie went on to say that fans won’t be able to find him on any website in the Asian country, including Reddit and YouTube. PewDiePie seemed to think it was amusing, even adding that he had already known this was going to happen since music artist Zedd liked a tweet from South Park’s official Twitter page.

“I’m laughing, but yeah I’m sorry if you are in China and try to watch my videos. That kind of sucks. It’s just kind of funny,” he added.

Continuing to let everyone know how little he apparently cares about being banned in China, PewDiePie took to Twitter to continue his rant.

“Just found out I’m banned in China. Shit sucks so fucking hard, dude,” he tweeted, accompanied by a photo of a hole punched in a wall.

According to the thread, PewDiePie was copyrighted by China in 2017.

“I wasn’t able to stop them anyway,” he continued.

He shared a screenshot of the tradmark registration in China, which was oddly registered as Class 25, covering goods such as clothing, gloves, and wedding dresses. PewDiePie then joked that nobody in China would be selling PewDiePie wedding dresses anymore.

In response, most of his fans posted memes.

The original video that finally got PewDiePie banned from China was a meme review from last week. It currently has over 101 million views. In it, the YouTuber addresses Blizzard’s reaction to Ng “blitzchung” Wai Chung calling for Hong Kong’s liberation in a Hearthstone Grandmasters interview.

“China is like that one person on Twitter who can’t take any criticism and just blocks everyone. Blizzard, to appease China, fires the host and bans the winner, taking away all his prize money. Because Blizzard needs China’s money obviously,” PewDiePie said.

PewDiePie then reminded his fans of the time that Blizzard announced Diablo’s mobile version, which enraged many hardcore Diablo fans in North America.

“From a business standpoint, it made perfect sense to get to that Chinese mobile market. That’s all they care about. It’s important to remember this. […] At the end of the day, their goal is to make money. They don’t care about you. They don’t care about freedom,” PewDiePie said.

He also told his fans that they will continue to get away with it if nobody fights back.

PewDiePie then went on to show a bunch of memes about Blizzard and China, including one that compared the president to Winnie the Pooh. He called the resemblance “uncanny,” winning him no more favors with the Chinese government.

While PewDiePie has made it clear that he doesn’t care about China banning his content, it does concern a lot of 12-year-olds. Without the country giving PewDiePie views, how will he stay ahead of T-Series in their never-ending battle to be the most subscribed channel on YouTube?

Olivia Richman

About Olivia Richman

Olivia has worked in media ever since graduating from college, with her coverage ranging from traditional newspaper reporting to digital coverage of all things gaming, online betting, and nerd culture. She has traveled around the world pursuing that coverage, from the far coasts of the United States to the busy downtown core of Tokyo, Japan. Olivia’s favorite games include Overwatch and Super Smash Smash Bros, and she has been published at Esports Illustrated, Inven Global, EsportsInsider, Upcomer, and elsewhere.

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