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Xiaohongshu pulled from some China app stores as social commerce platform ‘rectifies content’

  • The app, which was valued at US$3 billion in its latest fundraising, has investors including Alibaba and Tencent

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Screenshot of Xiaohongshu advertisement. Photo: Screenshot
Tracy Quin Shanghai

Chinese social commerce platform Xiaohongshu said in a statement that it has started an investigation and is rectifying some content, three days after it was suddenly removed from China’s Android app stores.

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“We have started a comprehensive investigation and rectification of content, are engaged in deep self-checks with cooperation from all relevant departments,” Xiaohongshu said in a Weibo post on Tuesday.

The app, which was valued at US$3 billion in its latest fundraising and has investors including Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings, has been removed from several Chinese Android app stores although it can still be found on Apple’s China iOS app store.

Xiaohongshu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Xiaohongshu is an app with over 85 million monthly active users that share their shopping experiences in the form of pictures and short videos, and users can buy the products in the posts directly on the platform.

The precise reason for the app’s removal remains unclear although Xiaohongshu is not the first popular Chinese app which has been taken down amid “content rectification” action in recent months as the authorities in Beijing continue a crackdown on online content deemed offensive, inappropriate or politically sensitive. NetEase cloud music has just returned to Chinese app stores after being down for one month.

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