Baidu is investigating search results that mocked Xi’s policy

The Baidu Inc. logo is illuminated on a speaker displayed at the Baidu Developers Conference in Beijing, China, on Wednesday, July 3, 2019. Baidu is fighting on a number of fronts as the slowing Chinese economy dampens advertising sales and its desktop search business loses users to smartphones. Photographer: Gilles Sabrie/Bloomberg

Chinese Internet giant Baidu Inc is investigating how online searches for a doctrine espoused by President Xi Jinping led users to a video clip that appeared to poke fun at the policy, people familiar with the matter said. 

The search engine, like all Internet companies in the country, typically censors content to eliminate politically sensitive topics. But on Tuesday afternoon, people who hunted on Baidu for Xi’s “Four Greats” – a policy doctrine attributed to the Chinese leader – found results that featured a video explaining the local phrase for “tooting one’s own horn”.