Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu – better known internationally as RedNote – is working to strengthen its ability to moderate English-language content after hundreds of thousands of US users suddenly joined the platform in anticipation of the potential ban on TikTok in the United States on Sunday.
WIRED this week identified a handful of job postings posted on recruiting platforms by tech outsourcing companies in China for content moderators who can help handle the unexpected influx of English-language videos and posts uploaded on Xiaohongshu. (Several new job postings have also been posted seeking content moderators who can work in Chinese, 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 sites. Zhilian Zhaopin And BOSS Zhipinspecifying that the candidates would “moderate videos by foreign friends’ accounts on Xiaohongshu”. The recruiter even labeled one of the announcements “Xiaohongshu urgent recruitment overnight – TikTok refugee moderation, short-term [contracts] accepted.”
Jinhui Rongzhi Technologyan IT services outsourcing company, and Transn.an AI-powered translation service provider, also posted similar recruitment notices this week seeking English-speaking content moderators to work for Xiaohongshu. WIRED contacted all three companies to confirm the validity 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 these jobs ranges from RMB 4,500 to RMB 8,000 per month (about $600 to $1,100). Applicants must demonstrate proficiency in English and prove they have passed a proficiency exam. An announcement note that the position must be filled within three days and that candidates do not need to apply if they cannot start immediately.
The Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s top internet watchdog, is already reportedly increasingly concerned about content shared by foreigners on Xiaohongshu. CAC warned the platform earlier this week to “ensure that users based in China cannot see posts from American users,” according to The information.
Social media platforms in China are legally required to remove a wide range of content, including nudity and graphic violence, but especially information that the government deems politically sensitive. Platforms like Xiaohongshu rely on large teams of contractors managed by outsourcing companies to carry out both routine law enforcement and respond to emergency situations.
“RedNote, like all platforms owned by Chinese companies, is subject to the Chinese Communist Party’s repressive laws,” wrote Allie Funk, research director for technology and democracy at the rights nonprofit. Freedom House, in an email to WIRED. “Independent researchers have documented how keywords deemed sensitive by those in power, such as discussion of strikes or criticism of Xi Jinping, can be removed from the platform. »
But the influx of American TikTok users, up to 700,000 in just two days, according to Reuters— could strain Xiaohongshu’s content moderation capabilities, says Eric Liu, editor-in-chief of the China Digital Times, a California-based publication that documents censorship in China, who has also worked as a content moderator himself for the Chinese social media platform Weibo.
