April Fools' Day Is Basically Banned in China Now

For most of us, the first day of April is a glorious celebration of heinous pranks and Minions GIFs. That's not the case for the billion-plus humans living in China, though, since April Fools' Day has been officially banned in the country, according to the Washington Post.

China started a campaign in 2013 that effectively criminalized the wide dissemination of online rumors. News agency Xinhua reminded people of the consequences of satire this week, stating on social media that: "'April Fools' Day' is not consistent with our cultural tradition, or socialist core values… Hope nobody believes in rumors, makes rumors, or spreads rumors."

Of course, because it came on April Fools' Day, Xinhua's warning could be a brilliant joke. But Chinese media outlets take things a little more seriously than we do, and the country's press has been falling victim to pesky Western pranks for decades.

In 1981, a journalist for Xinhua neglected to note the date on a satirical piece claiming American cadets studied and admired Communist Party icon Lei Feng. And China's People's Daily mistook satire for sincerity in 2012 and quoted an Onion article about Kim Jong-Un being the "sexiest man alive" alongside an excessive 55-page photo spread.

So, yeah, don't take any chances over there.