Chinese app RedNote — known in China as “Xiaohongshu” and often described as the Chinese version of Instagram — is blocking posts about the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre and Uyghurs as U.S. TikTok users migrate to the platform ahead of a likely ban in the United States this Sunday. Startled westerners are also learning that China’s platforms don’t take kindly to woke LGBT content.
New American RedNote users are finding that they are prohibited from discussing certain topics on the Chinese platform — which has jumped to the top of the Apple App Store in downloads ahead of TikTok’s January 19 ban — according to a report by TheWrap.
The Chinese app reportedly has a rule ordering users to share what it calls “the correct view of history.”
On Wednesday, the outlet conducted its own experiment on RedNote, finding that the Chinese platform “quickly censored a post that included the famous photo of ‘Tank Man,'” the unidentified man who famously stood in front of Chinese tanks.
The RedNote post, which included the caption, “Does anyone know what happened to tank man at Tiananmen Square in 1989?” was slapped with a violation and blocked from the view of other users within five minutes of being published.
“Please abide by community standards when creating,” the violation notice read.
RedNote reportedly outlines four main rules that users must follow on its platform, which include, complying “with the [Chinese] Constitution and laws and regulations,” practicing “the core values of socialism,” promoting “patriotism, collectivism, and socialism,” and spreading “the correct view of history, nationality, country, and culture.”
Another topic quickly censored on RedNote was the mention of the Chinese Communist Party’s treatment of its Uyghur population, which have been sent to internment camps in China.
Upon trying to publish Uyghur-related content, RedNote said the post needed to be reviewed in order to help create a “safe, harmonious and beautiful” environment, TheWrap reported.
An NPR report notes that the type of woke degenerate content popular on TikTok is also facing censorship:
“Welcome, but do not say anything about LGBTQ+. Thank you!” wrote a user in Beijing, in one example reported by Newsweek. The Advocate reported that some American users have had their content removed or accounts suspended, including one woman who was banned for wearing a low-cut top in one video and mentioning “trans plight” in another.
Notably, RedNote’s real name, “Xiaohongshu,” translates to “Little Red Book” in English — a nod to Chair Mao’s The Little Red Book.
Moreover, RedNote and Lemon8, considered a mix of Instagram and Pinterest, have been advertised on TikTok ahead of the app’s U.S. ban, and have both soared in downloads on Apple this week, TheWrap reported.
TikTok’s parent company ByteDance, meanwhile, has reportedly been paying TikTok influencers to post about Lemon8, which it also owns.
Alana Mastrangelo is a reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on Facebook and X at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
