Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu—better known internationally as RedNote—is trying to increase its ability to moderate English-language content after hundreds of thousands of American users joined the platform in anticipation that TikTok could be banned in the United States on Sunday.
WIRED identified a number of job listings posted on job boards by outsourcing companies in China this week for content moderators to help manage the unexpected influx of English videos and posts uploaded to Xiaohongshu. (There were also several new job postings posted looking for content advocates who can work in Chinese, the platform’s default language.)
VXI Global Solutions, an American customer service firm that has operated in China since the early 2000s, posted job vacancies on the recruitment websites Zhilian Zhaopin and BOSS Zhipin, specifying that candidates “will oversee videos for foreign friends’ accounts on Xiaohongshu .” The employer even wrote in one of the listings that “Xiaohongshu urgent recruitment overnight—TikTok refugee test, temporary. [contracts] welcome.”
Jinhui Rongzhi Technology, an IT service outsourcing company, and Transn, an AI-powered translation service provider, also posted similar notices this week seeking English-speaking content moderators to work for Xiaohongshu. WIRED contacted three companies to confirm the eligibility of the listing. None of them responded at the time of publication. Xiaohongshu also did not immediately return a request for comment.
Salaries range from 4,500 RMB to 8,000 RMB per month (approximately R600 to $1,100). Applicants must demonstrate their English language skills and prove that they have passed a technical test. Another list noted that 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 internet infrastructure, is reportedly already concerned about content being shared by outsiders on Xiaohongshu. The 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 networks in China are required by law to remove a wide range of content, including nudity and graphic violence, but especially information the government considers politically sensitive. Platforms like Xiaohongshu rely on large teams of contractors managed by third-party outsourcing companies to perform both routine compliance and emergency response.
“RedNote—like all Chinese corporate platforms—is subject to the repressive laws of the Chinese Communist Party,” wrote Allie Funk, director of technology and democracy research at the human rights nonprofit Freedom House, in an email to WIRED. “Independent researchers have documented how keywords deemed sensitive to those in power, such as discussing labor strikes or criticism of Xi Jinping, can be removed from the platform.”
But the influx of American TikTok users — some 700,000 in just two days, according to Reuters — could stretch Xiaohongshu’s content moderation capabilities, said Eric Liu, editor of the China Digital Times, a California-based publication that covers China research. , who also works as a content moderator himself on the Chinese social media site Weibo.
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