Kylian Mbappé’s Mao Joke Triggers Chinese AI Censorship and Sponsor Withdrawals

Three major Chinese sponsors cut ties with Kylian Mbappé within days of his mid-October podcast appearance. The departures came from Dongpeng Group, Mengniu, and Milkground, all of which ended their commercial partnerships with the Real Madrid striker. The breakups followed accusations that the footballer insulted national sentiments by referencing a meme that placed his head on the body of Mao Zedong.

The incident began when Mbappé appeared on The Bridge podcast. He identified a figure in a popular internet meme as a Chinese dictator. Observers widely interpreted the comment as a joke about Mao Zedong, the founder of the People’s Republic of China. A spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs later criticized the player during a press conference. Mbappé issued an apology, which officials stated they were taking seriously.

A digital layer of the controversy emerged when a dissident account on X reported that domestic AI chatbots were refusing to discuss the incident. The France 24 Observers team tested DeepSeek, Doubao, and Dola to verify the claim. They accessed the models using a virtual private network with a Chinese IP address to simulate domestic user conditions. They then compared these results with queries made from a French IP address.

When asked in Chinese if Mbappé had called Mao a dictator, Doubao responded that the content likely violated its usage rules. DeepSeek suggested the story was fake news. The model stated there was no trustworthy public information to confirm the statement and noted that the footballer rarely discusses political topics. The systems avoided naming Mao Zedong directly while condemning the player for making inappropriate statements that wounded the Chinese people.

The behavior of the models changed when accessed from outside China. DeepSeek still refused to answer the specific question from a French IP address, claiming the response went beyond its remit. Dola, the international version of ByteDance’s tool, acknowledged that Mbappé alluded to Mao being a dictator. When asked the same question in Chinese via Dola, the response shifted to state that public opinion believed Mbappé was referring to the former leader.

Indirect questions about what Mbappé exactly said produced vague answers from Chinese IP-based models. Doubao cited a zero-tolerance policy for acts harming national sentiment. DeepSeek noted that media outlets had deliberately chosen not to translate or disseminate the exact wording of the controversial remarks. The models consistently avoided repeating the specific words used in the podcast.

Marie Holzman, an expert on China, explained that Mao’s image is crucial for President Xi Jinping’s legitimacy. She said that criticizing Mao can cast doubt on the Chinese Communist Party’s historical narrative. Jennifer Pan, a professor of political communication at Stanford University, added that the reaction fits a narrative of the West disrespecting China’s rise. She noted that while Mao is not a taboo, versions of his history that differ from the official party line are often suppressed.

Current regulations in China require AI to promote fundamental societal values. The rules ban content that incites subversion or tarnishes the nation’s image. Research indicates that Chinese AI models are more likely to give short or refusing responses to political questions compared to models developed elsewhere. This suggests that censorship is integrated into the training and operational protocols of these domestic systems.