RedNote Scrambles to hire English-speaking Content Moderators

Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu – better known internationally as RedNote – is reportedly stepping up its ability to moderate English-language content after hundreds of thousands of US users. immediately joined the platform in anticipation of TikTok potentially be forbidden in the United States on Sunday.

WIRED identified a handful of job listings posted on recruiting platforms by tech outsourcing companies in China this week for content moderators who can help manage the unexpected influx of English-language videos and posts being uploaded. in Xiaohongshu. (There were also several new recruitment notices posted looking for content moderators who can work in Chinese, the default language of the platform).

VXI Global Solutions, an American customer service company that has operated in China since the early 2000s, posted vacancies on recruitment sites. Zhilian Zhaopin and BOSS Zhipinspecifying that the candidates will be “moderating videos from foreign friends’ accounts on Xiaohongshu”. The recruiter also tagged one of the lists “Urgent recruitment of Xiaohongshu overnight – moderation of TikTok refugees, accepted short-term (contracts)”.

Jinhui Rongzhi Technologyan IT services outsourcing company, and Transnan AI-powered translation service provider, also posted similar recruitment notices this week seeking English-language content moderators to work for Xiaohongshu. WIRED contacted the three companies to confirm the validity of the lists. None of them responded in time for publication. Xiaohongshu also did not immediately return a request for comment.

The salary for the jobs ranges from 4,500 RMB to 8,000 RMB per month (about $600 to $1,100). Applicants are required to demonstrate their English language skills and demonstrate that they have passed a proficiency exam. A list noticed that the position must be filled within three days, and applicants need not apply if they cannot start immediately.

The Cyberspace Administration of China, the country’s top Internet watchdog, is already concerned about content shared by foreigners on Xiaohongshu. CAC warned the platform earlier this week to “ensure that China-based users cannot view 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 the government deems politically sensitive. Platforms like Xiaohongshu rely on large teams of contractors managed by outsourcing companies to perform both routine enforcement and to respond to emergency situations.

“RedNote – like all Chinese companies’ platforms – is subject to the repressive laws of the Chinese Communist Party,” wrote Allie Funk, research director for technology and democracy at the human rights organization Without profit Freedom House, in an email to WIRED. “Independent researchers have documented how keywords deemed sensitive to those in power, such as discussion of labor strikes or criticism of Xi Jinping, can be washed from the platform.”

But the influx of American TikTok users – as many as 700,000 in just two days, according to Reuters-It could be an extension of Xiaohongshu’s content moderation capabilities, says Eric Liu, editor of China Digital Times, a California-based publication that documents censorship in China, who has also worked as a content moderator himself for the platform. of Chinese social network Weibo.