China banned a ton of words that opposed abolition of term limits

Focus2025-04-27 02:12:41Read times

In some sort of Sesame Street 'Letter of the Day' nightmare situation, the letter N was temporarily banned on many of China's most popular social platforms.

SEE ALSO: China ironically decides to clamp down on online news outlets on World Press Freedom Day

On Sunday, China's Communist Party announced that it was planning to abolish the presidential two-term limit, which would enable Xi Jinping to stay in power indefinitely.

Some Chinese citizens weren't too keen on the plan. Apparently, many started criticizing it on popular messaging apps Weibo and WeChat, referencing dystopian novels like 1984, and poking fun at Jinping by invoking the popular (and hilarious) comparison of Jinping to — wait for it — Winnie the Poo.

But when they did, some got some error messages saying that many of the words they wanted to use were banned.

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Some users posted screenshots on Twitter of certain words that they realized were banned on Weibo, including "migration." The website China Digital Times has done an expansive audit of the list of banned words that relate to discussion around the end of term limits, which include "disagree," "Animal Farm," "lifelong," and others which directly or indirectly criticize the move. "Disney" was also banned, because of that whole Winnie the Poo comparison thing.

And, of course, the English letter "N" prompted that same error message.

So what's with the letter "N" hate? In a blog post, the University of Pennsylvania's Victor Mair, a professor of Chinese Language and Literature's, explains the phenomenon. He says that N is the equivalent of the American "X," or an unknown quantity. So using "N" suggests a criticism of a never-ending term.

Some Twitter users also explained that N signifies "infinity," as well as the inability to say "No."

According to Business Insider, the ban was lifted as of Tuesday morning. Which is great news to freedom of speech advocates everywhere, and of course, the cast of Sesame Street.

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