Summary
Many Americans joining China’s social media platform RedNote are encountering strict censorship uncommon in Western platforms.
One non-binary user had a post asking if the platform welcomed gay people removed within hours.
Posts on LGBTQ+ topics, fitness photos, and sensitive cultural content have been censored, frustrating users unfamiliar with China’s moderation rules.
RedNote is hiring English-language moderators to handle the influx. While some users enjoy cultural exchange, others criticize restrictions.
Analysts see RedNote’s growth among US users as a soft power win for China.
It would be interesting to see what the effects are. I’ve heard that TikTok is the only mainstream social media where leftist content isn’t attenuated by the algorithm. Don’t know if that’s true or not, but if it is, and if we assume Red Note is similar in that regard, and if you bet right, they’ll keep getting exposed to leftism without corpo platforms being able to stop it. Unless they do another ban. I’m curious whether there would be a point when the TikTok > Red Note users would realize that and refuse to go back to the corpo propaganda machines.
Out of curiosity, what leftist content do you see there that the “western” social media sites won’t allow on their platform?
I don’t think it’s so much that western social media “won’t allow” leftist content, you can certainly post it and share it, but the algorithms aren’t going to do anything to help it gain traction.
Pretty much all of my Facebook friends skew liberal, leftist, even pretty hardcore socialist and communist. They share their memes and post about politics, and I like and interact with that stuff in positive ways. The few political pages I follow myself are pretty much all left leaning causes- environmentalism, pages devoted to voting out Republican candidates in my local elections, LGBTQ rights, atheism, etc. and I actively block, unfollow, and when appropriate report (though of course the reports never seem to go anywhere) any sort of of homo/trans-phobic, racist, bullshit and any misinformation I come across.
I’m just about the furthest right of anyone on my Facebook, and I’m still pretty far left. I have a few hobbies and interests and such that tend to skew right-wing, like hunting, fishing, guns, etc. but I don’t really interact with any pages relating to any of that on Facebook, don’t post about those things, etc. and the way I approach and interact with those sorts of activities is very different than the way most conservatives do.
If you looked at my ads and recommendations though, you’d think I was some kind of truly insane redneck. Gun stuff, weird Christian tradwife quiver-full homesteader shit, very thinly veiled racism, homophobia, etc, muscle cars and big trucks (I think muscle cars are stupid, I do like trucks but not the big lifted monster trucks that it’s always showing me, I think a stock maverick is pretty damn close to perfect)
The only left wing stuff I see is stuff my friends are sharing themselves, and mostly it’s stuff they’ve posted themselves and not shared from anywhere else on Facebook. Their stuff’s mostly not getting taken down, but it’s not getting promoted to any wider audience by the algorithm.
This is hownit works. On algorithm-driven platforms you don’t have to ban anything. You can both allow it, and have it not reach any meaningful audience. It’s brilliant really.
A lot of advertisers pulled out of Facebook, so you get the ones going for the target audience.
I dunno, you have a favorite pickup truck. I have a hard time believing you’re on the left.
Yeah, fuck me for having an opinion on something I frequently find myself needing to use.
No, in an ideal world, a truck shouldnt be anyone’s primary transportation. Privately owned passenger vehicles in general should be a rarity and most people’s needs should be served by public transportation.
However, sometimes you need a truck, they do exist to serve the purpose of moving large or bulky things that you can’t with other vehicles, they’re not just for idiots to waste gas driving getting groceries or for idiots to go play in the mud. And people tend to develop opinions on the tools they use. I have a favorite hammer, I have opinions on computer operating systems, a preferred style of cabinet hinges, and opinions and preferences on countless other things.
And it happens that I like trucks. I don’t own a truck, it’s not a practical vehicle for my everyday needs, but I borrow them frequently from friends and family and rent them on occasion. And the maverick is my preferred truck for when I need one.
Pro Palestine opinions get you banned, or de-prioritized on Facebook.
Pro Luigi content gets you a ban on all major US social media.
Mmmm, I see plenty of people supporting Luigi and not getting banned.
For example: https://www.businessinsider.com/luigi-mangione-content-meta-facebook-instagram-youtube-tiktok-moderation-2025-1?op=1
That is one story running covering the ongoing removal of pro-Mangione content. It was an isolated incident.
Well, the billionaires do want to keep things under control. They know their power is fragile.