RedNote strives to hire English-speaking content moderators
Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu — better known internationally as RedNote — is seeking to improve its ability to moderate English-language content after attracting hundreds of thousands of American users suddenly joined the platform possibly in anticipation of TikTok is banned in the United States on Sunday.
WIRED this week identified a handful of job openings posted by technology outsourcing companies in China on content moderator recruiting platforms that can help handle the unexpected influx of English videos and posts uploaded to Xiaohongshu. (Several new job postings were also 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 its recruiting websites Zhilian Zhaopin And CHEF ZhipinIt said that the candidates would “moderate the videos through reports from foreign friends on Xiaohongshu.” The recruiter even labeled one of the entries “Xiaohongshu overnight urgent recruitment –
Jinhui Rongzhi Technologyan IT service outsourcing company, and Transnan AI-powered translation service provider, also posted similar job postings this week seeking English-language content moderators for Xiaohongshu. WIRED contacted the 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 the jobs ranges from 4,500 to 8,000 RMB per month (approximately $600 to $1,100). Applicants must demonstrate their English language skills and demonstrate that they have passed an aptitude test. One entry noted that the position must be filled within three days and applicants do not need to apply if they cannot start immediately.
China’s Cyberspace Administration, the country’s top internet regulator, is reportedly already 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 US users,” it said The information.
Social media platforms in China are required by law to remove a wide range of content, including nudity and violence, but particularly information the government deems politically sensitive. Platforms like Xiaohongshu rely on large teams of contractors managed by outsourcing companies to both conduct routine enforcement actions and respond to emergency situations.
“RedNote, like all Chinese company platforms, is subject to the Chinese Communist Party’s repressive laws,” Allie Funk, technology and democracy research director 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 discussions of labor strikes or criticism of Xi Jinping, can be deleted from the platform.”
But the influx of American TikTok users — up to 700,000 in just two days — according to Reuters— could overwhelm Xiaohongshu’s content moderation skills, said Eric Liu, an editor at China Digital Times, a California-based publication that documents censorship in China and also previously worked as a content moderator for the Chinese social media platform Weibo.
