Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu — known globally as RedNote — is scrambling to boost its ability to moderate English-language content after hundreds of thousands of American users suddenly joined the platform in anticipation of a possible TikTok ban in the United States on Sunday.
WIRED identified a batch of job listings posted on recruitment platforms by tech outsourcing companies in China this week for content moderators who can help manage the unexpected influx of English videos and posts being uploaded to Xiaohongshu. (Several new hiring notices have also been posted looking for content moderators who can work in Chinese, which is the platform’s default language.)
VXI Global Solutions, an American customer service company operating in China since the early 2000s, has posted job openings on recruitment websites Zilian Chaobin and Boss Zibinspecifying that the candidates will “supervise videos through foreign friends’ accounts on Xiaohongshu.” Recruited until named One of the lists “Urgent Recruitment of Xiaohongshu Overnight – TikTok Moderation for Refugees, Short-Term [contracts] acceptable.”
Jinhui Rongzhi Technologyan IT services outsourcing company, and Transa company that provides AI-powered translation services, also posted similar hiring notices this week looking for English-speaking content moderators to work at Xiaohongshu. WIRED contacted all three companies to confirm the authenticity of the listings. None of them responded in time for publication. Xiaohongshu also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The salary for the jobs ranges from CNY 4,500 to CNY 8,000 per month (about US$600 to US$1,100). Applicants are required to prove their English language skills and prove that they have passed a proficiency test. One list male The position must be filled within three days, and candidates need not apply if they cannot start immediately.
The Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s top internet censor, has reportedly already become concerned about the content being shared by foreigners on Xiaohongshu. The CAC warned the platform earlier this week to “ensure that users based in China cannot see US users’ posts,” it said. Information.
Social media platforms in China are legally obligated to remove a wide range of content, including nudity and graphic violence, but especially information the government deems politically sensitive. Platforms like Xiaohongshu rely on large teams of contractors managed by outsourcing companies to do routine implementation as well as emergency response.
“RedNote — like all platforms owned by Chinese companies — is subject to the repressive laws of the Chinese Communist Party,” Allie Funk, director of technology and democracy research at the human rights nonprofit Freedom House, wrote in an email to WIRED. “Independent researchers have documented how keywords deemed sensitive to those in power, such as discussing labor strikes or criticizing Xi Jinping, can be deleted from the platform.”
But the influx of American TikTok users — as many as 700,000 in just two days, According to ReutersThat could drain Xiaohongshu’s content moderation capabilities, says Eric Liu, an editor at China Digital Times, a California-based publication that documents censorship in China, and who also worked as a content moderator at Chinese social media platform Weibo.