(ECNS) -- Chinese tech giant Huawei has denied a nationwide removal or ban on a traditional toy known as "bamboo cicada," after a viral video compared its buzzing sound to the cheers heard at a 2023 Huawei product launch, sparking complaints about the brand.
Huawei said on Tuesday it had filed complaints against 171 videos for alleged damage to its commercial reputation as part of routine legal enforcement, but that the action was not aimed at the toy itself.
"As of Tuesday evening, we monitored more than 56,000 pieces of information related to the 'bamboo cicada,' but we only filed complaints against 171 specific infringing pieces of content, of which 144 were taken down by online platforms," a spokesperson for Harmony Intelligent Mobility Alliance, a Huawei-led automotive venture, said in a social media statement.
The company "never requested any e-commerce platform to remove or stop selling the 'bamboo cicada' product," the spokesperson added, calling reports of a blanket ban "inconsistent with the facts."
The controversy erupted after Chinese internet users noticed that the rattling sound of the bamboo cicada resembles the audience's exclamation at a Huawei product event in 2023. Parody videos circulated widely, and their subsequent removal fueled speculation that Huawei had sought a wholesale crackdown.
The incident quickly became a trending topic on Chinese social media, with the toy turning into an unexpected viral meme.
Huawei stated that it has long faced "malicious editing, voice imitation, AI-manipulated portraits, false attribution, and defamation" targeting its executives online, and that the latest complaints were part of "routine daily evidence collection and filing" against specific infringing content.
(By Zhang Dongfang)
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