History Main / BannedInChina

* The WebAnimation/OverSimplified videos on Adolf Hitler are blocked on Platform/YouTube in some of the European countries, for [[AdolfHitlarious obvious]] [[NoSwastikas reasons.]] This fact is even acknowledged during some of the [=NordVPN=] sponsor sections in some videos. [[https://i.imgur.com/c15z4YM.png Here's the full list of countries which banned the videos.]]

* Due to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Ukraine's Digital Ministry has [[https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2023/02/ukraine-wants-ban-on-game-allegedly-funded-by-russians-and-set-in-glorified-ussr/ reportedly]] called for a ban on the Russian game ''VideoGame/AtomicHeart'' in Ukraine, which it accuses of "romanticizing communist ideology and the Soviet Union".

* [[Creator/TheBBC BBC]]'s website is blocked in Vietnam. Not just the Vietnamese edition, '''every site operated by BBC is blocked.''' This comes as no surprise, [[DirtyCommunists given how BBC views the socialist countries like Vietnam]].
* Just like BBC, any website that is biased against the government is also blocked, such as Radio Free Asia and Voice of America.

* ''Manga/{{Manhole}}'' was designated as a "harmful book" in 2009 by Nagasaki Prefecture, banning its sale in the prefecture. The author never actually found out about this ban until five years after the fact and tried to get the ban overturned, but had all his appeals rejected. What makes this case particularly odd is why it got banned. There's no real-world controversy attached to it. It's not particularly graphic by horror manga standards either and there's certainly no content that you would call obscene or pornographic. [[https://web.archive.org/web/20230820150701/https://www.bengo4.com/c_23/n_6433/ The reason for the ban is that there's a scene in which a bloody naked man crawls out of a manhole]], which apparently was enough for the prefecture to decide it warranted a ban.

* ''Manga/{{Manhole}}'' was designated as a "harmful book" in 2009 by Nagasaki Prefecture, banning its sale in the prefecture. The author never actually found out about this ban until five years after the fact. He tried to get the ban overturned, but this was rejected. What makes this case especially bizarre however is ''why'' the manga got banned. While the manga has some creepy imagery, it's by no means more graphic than most horror manga and it's certainly not what you would "obscene." [[https://web.archive.org/web/20230820150701/https://www.bengo4.com/c_23/n_6433/ The reason for the ban is that there's a scene in which a bloody naked man crawls out of a manhole]]. That's it. The author of the manga has gone on record talking about how silly he thinks this ban is but, for one reason or another, the Prefecture doesn't want to change its mind.

* Not on a national level, but ''Manga/{{Manhole}}'' was designated as a "harmful book" in 2009 by Nagasaki Prefecture, banning its sale in the prefecture. The cause of this ban was, of all things, [[https://web.archive.org/web/20230820150701/https://www.bengo4.com/c_23/n_6433/ a scene in which a naked man crawls out of a manhole]].[[note]]While the scene in question is certainly creepy, it's by no means more extreme than what one would find in most horror manga[[/note]] The author never found out about this ban until five years after the fact and, although he tried to overturn it, he was ultimately unsuccessful.

* Not on a national level, but ''Manga/{{Manhole}}'' was designated as a "harmful book" in 2009 by Nagasaki Prefecture, banning its sale in the prefecture. The cause of this ban was, of all things, [[https://web.archive.org/web/20230820150701/https://www.bengo4.com/c_23/n_6433/ having a scene in which a naked man crawls out of a manhole]]. The author never found out about this ban until five years after the fact, but was unable to overturn it.

* ''Film/NeverTooYoungToDie was banned in Sweden and Finland, presumably for violence and/or sexual content, It is unknown if [[Music/KISS Gene Simmons']] transgender villain character might have had something to do with it, although other movies featuring genderqueer characters released before or around the same time got through fine.

* The ''Film/Alien'' ripoff ''Film/Inseminoid'' was banned in Finland, Germany, Iceland and Sweden due to featuring a woman getting impregnated by an alien, with very gory results.

* Finland, just like its Scandinavian neighbours, used to have a rather strict censorship bureau who would ban anything deemed morally damaging, which included anything from Creator/JamesCagney gangster movies to [[SpaghettiWestern spaghetti Westerns]] to 80's action thrillers to several Creator/HammerHorror films. Notably, the entire Franchise/FridayThe13th franchise was banned up to a point. The censorship was finally relaxed in the early 00's, and most of the banned movies have been unbanned now.

* Mokran Video, North Korea's main (and possible ''only'') home media distributor, began dubbing and distributing some Western content over time, mostly animated movies like ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'' and all mainline ''Franchise/{{Shrek}}'' movies. The only major changes they have in common is the omission of their Western studios' names.

* ''Fight of Gods'' got banned several months after neighbor Malaysia banned it, due to claims of the game being insensitive to religion. Ironically, when Malaysia banned the game, Singaporean media mocked the country and claim that the Singaporean government will never ban it...

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Lightyear}}'' has been banned in 14 countries across the Middle East (including Syria) and Southeast Asia (including Indonesia and Malaysia) over a 10-second same sex kissing scene (with Commander Hawthorne and her wife), as the authorities in those countries consider LGBT characters and themes as offensive. It is [[https://www.thejakartapost.com/amp/culture/2022/06/15/indonesias-censor-board-says-it-has-not-banned-of-lightyear-despite-same-sex-kiss.html reported]] that Indonesian censors stated that they didn't ban the movie in the country,  "but suggested the owner of the movie think about their audience in Indonesia where an LGBT kissing scene is still considered sensitive." It was also [[https://eurasianet.org/kazakhstan-joins-club-of-countries-banning-lightyear-over-same-sex-kiss banned in Kazakhstan]] for the same reasons after the country's Culture and Sports Minister responded to calls from local conservative and religious groups to ban the film. Despite that, the film was allowed to be screened in Singapore as the ban was overturned in that country not much later, but with an [[SameContentDifferentRating NC16 rating,]] and the film was later put on Disney+ Hotstar in Malaysia with an 18 rating and in Indonesia with an 21+ rating (over typical 17+).

* Norway used to practice harsh film censorship, with anything too violent or immoral getting the banhammer. This included movies like ''Film/BonnieAndClyde'', ''Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly'', ''Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre'' and ''Film/FridayThe13th'', among others. This only intensified during the 80's when the country was struck by a Video Nasty type of hysteria, leading to many tapes being banned or censored. In 2003 all existing bans were lifted and the country hardly ever bans media anymore unless it's something blatantly illegal like underage porn or unsimulated murder.

* ''Anime/{{Kite}}'' was apparently banned in Norway due to scenes in the film being considered "child pornography", although whether or not this is actually true appears to be unclear.

* While it was never officially banned, ''WesternAnimation/TheFlightOfDragons'' used to be broadcast every summer on the Educational Channel (a government-funded PBS equivalent) until one lady called to complain - ''while it was on the air'' - that one of the characters, the good wizard Carolianus, is an antisemitic stereotype, due to his large nose and the stars (resembling Stars of David) on his robe. Never mind that he was the good guy, or that his robe also featured moons which are, if anything, a Muslim symbol. The broadcast was cut short and the film was never shown on Israeli TV again.

* In June 2017, Saudi Arabia and several other countries cut diplomatic ties with {{UsefulNotes/Qatar}} over allegations that its government had funded terrorism. As part of the subsequent sanctions, Creator/AlJazeera and other Qatari news agencies were ordered to cease operating in Saudi Arabia (the countries had demanded that the company be shut down), as well as the sports network group [=beIN Sports=], which is based in Qatar (it was originally established by [=Al Jazeera=]) and has a major stranglehold on many significant sports properties across the entire Middle East. Of course, just a few months later, a mysterious satellite service emerged called [=beoutQ=], that was literally rebroadcasting the [=beIN Sports=] channels as a BlandNameProduct by covering up the networks' logo bugs with its own (and also airing anti-Qatar and anti-[=beIN=] propaganda during its programs for good measure). For [[DigitalPiracyIsEvil obvious reasons]], [=beIN=], and a ton of sports organizations, were quite angry about the service, to the point [=beIN=] declined to renew its rights to UsefulNotes/FormulaOne and [[UsefulNotes/EuroFooty the Bundesliga]], but no one at the time knew who exactly rans it. It got to the point where Saudi Arabian football fans couldn't even "legally" watch the 2018 [[UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup World Cup]]... '''which they were in.''' The service shuttered in 2019, claiming they were upgrading the service, but never returned to air. An investigation eventually found that the service was operating in Saudi Arabia. The two countries would make amends in 2021, and [=beIN=] announced that Saudi Arabia was lifting their ban on the network... which just so happened to coincide with the KSA royal family acquisition of [[UsefulNotes/EnglishPremierLeague Newcastle United]] announced the next day.

* ''Animation/TheHand'' was banned due to its allusions to the poor working environment many artists in the country suffered.

* Norway used to practice harsh film censorship, with anything too violent or immoral getting the banhammer. This included movies like Film/BonnieAndClyde, Film/TheGoodTheBadAndTheUgly, Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre and Film/FridayThe13th, among others. This only intensified during the 80's when the country was struck by a Video Nasty type of hysteria, leading to many tapes being banned or censored. In 2003 all existing bans were lifted and the country hardly ever bans media anymore unless it's something blatantly illegal like underage porn or unsimulated murder.

* Simply visiting Crimea without permission from the Ukrainian government can also get an actor blacklisted, which usually leads to parts of their filmography getting banned. That way, movies like ''Film/{{Machete}}'', ''Film/8FirstDates'' and ''Film/LesEnfantsDesTimpelbach'' got banned (the offending actors are Creator/StevenSeagal, Yekaterina Varnava and Gérard Depardieu, respectively)

* ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'' has had some trouble properly getting onto Creator/DisneyPlus in Singapore. The series has a noticeably higher rating of [=NC16=] on the Singaporean version of the service, and multiple episodes of the series are also missing as well.

* In recent times, Mokran Video, North Korea's main (and possible ''only'') home media distributor, has dubbed and distributed some Western content, mostly animated movies like ''WesternAnimation/TheLionKing1994'', ''WesternAnimation/{{Ratatouille}}'' and [[WesternAnimation/Shrek1 all]] [[WesternAnimation/Shrek2 four]] ''[[WesternAnimation/ShrekTheThird Shrek]]'' [[WesternAnimation/ShrekForeverAfter movies]]. The only major changes they have in common is the omission of their Western studios' names.

* In 2016, the 2006 North Korean film ''Film/TheSchoolgirlsDiary'' was apparently [[{{Irony}} banned in its homeland because the government deemed it "subversive"]]. However, it has been reaired on North Korean television starting in 2020, meaning the ban was temporary or just a hoax.

North Korea, probably the single most isolated country in the world, bans nearly anything foreign -- and enforces this through serious punishments. This can happen even to those caught listening to South Korean music (not that it stops South Korea from broadcasting music over the border, through both radio and giant loudspeakers). North Korea even has its own Internet, completely separate from the normal World Wide Web, and thus free of any outside influence. It would be easier to list what's foreign and ''not'' banned in North Korea:

* Hasbro's decision to renew their contract with Discovery Family through 2025 has resulted in a tantamount ban on ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyRainbowRoadtrip'' in many countries such as Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, and Turkey, thus preventing the film from getting dubs in any of the languages spoken in those regions.

* Hasbro's decision to renew their contract with Discovery Family through 2025 has resulted in a tantamount ban on ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyRainbowRoadtrip'' in many countries such as Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Switzerland, and Turkey, thus preventing the film from getting dubs in any of the languages spoken in those regions.