China’s Twitter-like microblogging service Weibo has blocked and deleted posts referring to British comedian John Oliver after he slammed the country’s human rights record and mocked President Xi Jinping on his show, “Last Week Tonight.”
In a 20-minute segment aired on HBO last Sunday, Oliver criticized China’s moves to end presidential term limits and enshrine “Xi Jinping Thought” in its constitution. He also mocked China’s “Belt and Road” initiative, its ongoing crackdown on corruption, and moves to censor online images of the cartoon bear Winnie the Pooh, said to resemble Xi.
Attempts to post Oliver’s English name or the name of his show prompted error messages about “information that violated related laws and regulations”.
