Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu – better known internationally as RedNote – is trying to boost its ability to moderate English-language content after hundreds of thousands of American users suddenly joined the platform ahead of TikTok possibly being banned in the United States on Sunday.
WIRED this week found a handful of job openings posted by tech outsourcing companies in China on hiring platforms for content moderators who can help manage the unexpected influx of English videos and posts uploaded to Xiaohongshu. (Several new hiring announcements have also been posted looking for content moderators who can work in Chinese, the platform's default language.)
VXI Global Solutions, an American customer service company that has been operating in China since the early 2000s, posted job openings on the recruitment websites Zhilian Zhaopin and BOSS Zhipin and specified that candidates would “moderate the videos based on foreign friends' accounts on Xiaohongshu.” The recruiter even tagged one of the listings with “Xiaohongshu, Overnight Urgent Recruitment – TikTok Refugee Moderation, Short Term [contracts] accepted.”
Jinhui Rongzhi Technology, an IT services outsourcing company, and Transn, an AI-powered translation service provider, also posted similar recruitment announcements this week looking for English-speaking content moderators to work for Xiaohongshu. WIRED contacted the three companies to confirm the validity of the listings. None responded in time for publication. Xiaohongshu also did not immediately return a request for comment.
Salary for the jobs ranges from 4,500 RMB to 8,000 RMB per month (approximately $600 to $1,100). Applicants must demonstrate their English language proficiency and prove that they have passed a proficiency exam. One listing noted that the position must be filled within three days and that candidates do not need to apply if they cannot start immediately.
China's Cyberspace Administration, the country's top internet watchdog, has reportedly already grown concerned about content shared by foreigners on Xiaohongshu. CAC warned the platform earlier this week to “ensure China-based users cannot see posts from US 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 perform both routine enforcement and respond to emergencies.
“RedNote — like all platforms owned by Chinese companies — is subject to the repressive laws of the Chinese Communist Party,” Allie Funk, research director for technology and democracy at the nonprofit human rights organization Freedom House, wrote in an email to WIRED. “Independent researchers have documented how keywords deemed sensitive to those in power, such as discussions of labor strikes or criticism of Xi Jinping, can be removed from the platform.”
But the influx of American TikTok users — as many as 700,000 in just two days, according to Reuters — could strain Xiaohongshu's ability to moderate content, said Eric Liu, editor at China Digital Times, a California-based publication that documents censorship in China. , who also worked as a content moderator for the Chinese social media platform Weibo.
