US TikTok users experience Chinese censorship for the first time on RedNote

US TikTok users experience Chinese censorship for the first time on RedNote

The Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, has surprisingly advertised positions for moderators for English-language content in recent days. This happens because a growing number of users from the USA creates new accounts, primarily because of one impending ban from TikTok, which is set to take effect on Sunday.

The challenge of freedom of expression

The sudden influx of overseas users calling themselves "TikTok refugees" poses a new challenge for the app, which must now balance China's strict content moderation policies and providing positive experiences for non-Chinese-speaking newcomers.

Many users enjoy the platform. American artist Heather Roberts, who has over 32,000 followers on TikTok and has now created an account on RedNote, said she likes the Chinese app because "everyone is so nice and friendly." She added: "We realize that Chinese people are not so dissimilar to us. It really brings us together. It's a beautiful thing - it really is."

Censorship and frustration

However, the “honeymoon phase” quickly came to an end for a growing proportion of American users. After just a few days, some began to express frustration with the censorship rules, which went far beyond what they were used to. It's not just violent content, hate speech or pornography that isn't allowed. The Chinese internet is famous for censoring an ever-growing list of terms deemed sensitive, whether for political or other reasons.

While Chinese authorities set the censorship rules, enforcement of the rules generally falls to the platforms themselves, which often employ extensive teams of moderators to remove content that violates policies. These platforms are forced to rigorously enforce censorship because non-compliance increases Punish, suspensions or even Closings can lead.

User churn

An American user who identified as “non-binary” on RedNote was censored after he posted a post on Tuesday asking whether the platform welcomed gay people. The post was removed within hours, the user reported to CNN. The next day, he published a new post announcing his departure from the platform, but he quickly received homophobic comments with some users accusing him of cultural imposition.

Another male user expressed his displeasure after RedNote censored a photo of his upper body. “Why can’t I post photos of my fitness and abs?” he asked, adding that he's "never had a problem like this on TikTok and Instagram." One Chinese user suggested that he should try covering his nipples, as Chinese social media platforms generally impose restrictions on showing nipples if it is perceived as sexually provocative.

Growing influence of China

Some RedNote users have also noticed that posts about the Japanese anime "My Hero Academia," which has been censored in China since 2018 due to controversial references to Japan's wartime era, have been removed from the platform. When asked whether China would increase scrutiny of content from overseas users, a Beijing Foreign Ministry spokesman described social media use as a "personal choice." Guo Jiakun said at a daily news conference in Beijing: "China has always supported and promoted people-to-people exchanges and cultural encounters with other countries to promote people-to-people connections."

A commentary published by China's state-run People's Daily said the influx of foreign users was an indication of Beijing's growing soft power potential. "Without a doubt, this is due to China's deep historical and cultural accumulation ... the country's openness, the kindness of its people and the tolerance of our society," the newspaper wrote on Thursday.

Urgent need for moderators

The influx of users unfamiliar with China's internet rules has led RedNote to look for English-speaking moderators familiar with Western culture. Since the beginning of this week, RedNote has reached the top position in Apple's US App Store. While it is one of China's largest social media platforms with 300 million users, it has not gained much traction outside of the Chinese-speaking world.

The company had to “look for ways to moderate English-language content and develop translation tools for English and Chinese,” Reuters reported on Wednesday, citing two sources familiar with the company. According to information published by the state-run newspaper Yangcheng Evening News, RedNote has posted "urgent" job advertisements for moderators to focus on managing English posts. One such ad, which first appeared on a Chinese recruiting platform, had been removed by Thursday, and it is unclear why it was deleted. CNN has reached out to RedNote for comment.

Another post, still on RedNote's official website on Thursday, shows that the company is looking for new "innovation interns" to help "foster the healthy development of the English language content community ecosystem."

Some Chinese RedNote users have also offered their American counterparts advice on navigating the censorship system. For example, some have openly called for China's sovereignty over Taiwan to accept. China's Communist Party claims the self-governing democracy of Taiwan as its own territory and has promised to take control of it, by force if necessary, although it has never controlled it. Taipei firmly rejects this claim, stating that the island's future can only be decided by its people.

Ivy Yang, a Chinese technology analyst and founder of consulting firm Wavelet Strategy, said that while the influx of new American users could pose challenges for the platform's moderators and the Chinese government, it was still seen as a "big win" for China. “It is a self-selected group of curious users who are open to learning about the other side of the digital firewall and the possibility of being proven wrong about China and its people,” she added.

“If China is serious about people-to-people exchanges, then perhaps there could be the possibility of this kind of organic interaction continuing to unfold for a while.”

That's the case for Jeremy Fraga, a father of three from Fort Worth, Texas. He said that since downloading RedNote on Monday, he has been hooked on the platform and introduced it to his children. "Going on RedNote and talking to these people one-on-one for hours showed me a different side of China. And it challenged my worldview," Fraga said. “I believe I will make this my new home even if TikTok doesn’t get banned.”