China blocks HBO after John Oliver parody of Xi Jinping

[Speaker to the Yanks]

Source: The Guardian

Mon 25 Jun 2018 05.23 BST

HBO’s website has been blocked in China after censors on Chinese social media platform Weibo banned mentions of John Oliver following the British comedian’s parody of Chinese president Xi Jinping.

According to the anti-censorship and monitoring group Greatfire.org, HBO’s website was completely blocked within China as of Saturday, days after media reports emerged that Weibo had censored new posts mentioning Oliver or his HBO show Last Week Tonight.

After a wide-ranging 20-minute segment 17 June in which Oliver called Xi the “creepy uncle who imprisons 800,000 people in his basement”, the Twitter-like service blocked new posts related to Oliver as well as searches for the show’s Chinese name, Shangzhou jinye xiu.

Attempts to access HBO’s website from within China were unsuccessful on Monday. The website for HBO Asia, a Singapore-based broadcast network that airs HBO content in China through Dingjijuchang, a Tencent TV subscription service, also appeared to be blocked. The subscription does not include all HBO shows.

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/25/china-blocks-hbo-after-john-oliver-parody-of-xi-jinping

---

Yes, DU, with threads about Pie and Oliver, I am making my presence known as a friendly bloke concerned about your country's well-being. No need for alarm, naturally: We are Brits, and therefore know what's best.

[sandensea]

1. "Why can't I do that!?"

[WinstonSmith4740]

2. Welcome to DU!

And thanks for your concern about us...it is weird being the people everyone else feels sorry for. Just bear with us for a little while longer. The Dems should at least take The House in November, and even if they don't have the stomach for impeachment, they'll certainly be able to put a choke chain on this beast. And while the dotard is bloviating about how Mueller has found "no collusion", he IS finding money laundering and obstruction of justice. Stay tuned.

[pbmus]

5. After the Con gets done with our justice system...

I hope laundering and obstruction are punishable offenses....his minions do not believe these are serious enough.....

[WinstonSmith4740]

6. Well, hell.

His minions don't have a problem with child molestation, either.
Maybe I'm being a bit of a pollyanna here, but this last outrage may be his last. When Ralph Reed and Franklin Graham start questioning him, there's a glimmer of hope. Melania's fashion statement didn't help. I think Michael Avenatti hit it on the head when he said that mothers are mothers regardless of political affiliation. They can trot out their own crisis actors out to support everything this idiot says, but people may be waking up. The press is not walking away from this like they have so many other issues with him. They're not letting this become "old news".

[Gothmog]

3. Winnie the Pooh is also blocked in China

[Blue_Tires]

4. Snowden and Greenwald were unavailable for comment...

[sarcasmo]

7. That was a great episode.