Hong Kong
NCS
—
Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, also called RedNote, has been hiring for a stunning place in latest days: English-language content material moderators.
That’s as a result of a growing number of US customers are creating new accounts there, pushed largely by a looming ban on TikTok, which is due to take impact Sunday.
The sudden inflow of abroad customers, lots of whom name themselves “TikTok refugees,” is posing a brand new problem for the app, which should now strike a steadiness between satisfying China’s stringent content material moderation guidelines whereas additionally offering a constructive expertise for its non-Chinese-speaking newbies.
Many are having a great time. Heather Roberts, an American artist with greater than 32,000 followers on TikTok and a brand new account on RedNote, mentioned she loved utilizing the Chinese app as a result of “everyone is being so nice, so kind.”
“We’re finding that the Chinese people are not so different from us,” she informed NCS. “This is really bringing us together. It’s a beautiful thing – it really is.”
But for an growing variety of American customers, the honeymoon has been short-lived.
Just days into utilizing RedNote, some have began to categorical frustration over the censorship guidelines, which go far past what they’re used to. It’s not simply violent content material, hate speech or pornography that’s off-limits. China’s web is known for censoring an ever-growing record of phrases deemed delicate, both politically or in any other case.
And whereas Chinese authorities set the censorship guidelines, their enforcement is mostly left to the platforms, which frequently make use of sizeable groups of moderators to take away content material that violates the pointers. These platforms are compelled to implement the censorship rigorously, as non-compliance may lead to fines, suspensions, and even shutdowns.
One American consumer, who recognized themselves as “non-binary” on RedNote, was censored after publishing a publish on Tuesday asking if the platform welcomed homosexual individuals. The publish was eliminated inside hours, the consumer informed NCS.
The subsequent day, they uploaded a brand new publish saying they are going to give up the platform over the choice however was quickly on the receiving finish of homophobic feedback, with some customers accusing them of cultural imposition.
In a separate publish, a male consumer expressed frustration after RedNote censored a photograph of his higher physique. “Why can’t I post photos of my fitness and abs?” he requested, including he had “never had such a problem on TikTok and Instagram.”
A Chinese consumer steered that he strive protecting his nipples, as Chinese social media platforms usually impose restrictions on displaying them when it’s perceived as sexually suggestive.
A number of RedNote customers additionally famous that posts about the Japanese anime My Hero Academia, which confronted censorship in China since 2018 due to controversial references to Japan’s wartime historical past, have since been faraway from the platform.
When requested if China would step up the overview of content material uploaded by abroad customers, a spokesperson for Beijing’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs known as social media use “a personal choice.”
“China has always supported and encouraged strengthening people-to-people and cultural exchanges with other countries to promote people-to-people connections,” Guo Jiakun informed a day by day press briefing in Beijing on Wednesday.
A commentary printed by China’s state-run People’s Daily mentioned the inflow of abroad customers was indicative of Beijing’s rising comfortable energy. “Without doubt, this was due to China’s profound historical and cultural accumulation … the openness of the country, the friendliness of the people, and the tolerance of our society,” the newspaper wrote on Thursday.
The inflow of customers unfamiliar with China’s web guidelines has despatched RedNote scrambling to rent English-speaking content material moderators aware of Western tradition.
Since the starting of this week, RedNote has surged to the prime place on Apple’s US App Store. While it’s one in every of China’s greatest social media platforms with 300 million customers, it hasn’t gained a lot prominence past the Chinese-speaking world till now.
The firm has been “scrambling to find ways to moderate English-language content and build English-Chinese translation tools,” Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing two sources aware of the firm.
According to Yangcheng Evening News, a state-run newspaper, RedNote has posted “urgent” job commercials for moderators targeted on managing posts in English. One such publish, which first appeared on a Chinese recruitment platform, had since been eliminated by Thursday. It is unclear why it was deleted, and NCS has reached out to RedNote for remark.
Another publish, which nonetheless seems on RedNote’s official web site as of Thursday, reveals that the firm is trying for new “innovation operation interns” who will assist with “promoting the healthy development of the content community ecosystem” in English.
Some Chinese RedNote customers have additionally posted reminders for their American counterparts on navigating the censorship system. For instance, some have overtly known as on the newbies to settle for China’s sovereignty over Taiwan.
China’s Communist Party claims the self-governing democracy of Taiwan as its personal territory and has vowed to take management of it, by pressure if obligatory, regardless of having by no means managed it. Taipei strongly opposes that declare, and says the island’s future can solely be determined by its individuals.
Ivy Yang, a China tech analyst and founding father of consulting agency Wavelet Strategy, mentioned whereas the inflow of latest American customers may pose challenges for content material moderators on the app and the Chinese authorities, it’s nonetheless thought of “a big win” for China.
“It’s a self-selective cohort of curious users who are open to learning about the other side of the digital firewall, and they are leaning into the possibility of (being) proven wrong about China and its people,” she mentioned.
“If China is serious about the people-to-people exchange, then perhaps there is a possibility for this kind of organic engagement to blossom for a while longer.”
That’s been the case for Jeremy Fraga, a father of three from Fort Worth, Texas, who mentioned he has been addicted to RedNote since downloading it on Monday, and has launched the platform to his kids.
“Getting on RedNote and talking to these people one-on-one for hours, it’s just shown me a different side of China. And it’s challenged my worldview,” Fraga mentioned. “I do believe that I’m going to make that my new home, even if TikTok doesn’t get banned.”