When China cleans up apps, it hurts users the most

Hot social shopping app Xiaohongshu returns after a three-month long “rectification,” but users have lost sales and are baffled by new rules

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An advertisement for Xiaohongshu, a social ecommerce pioneer in China that was pulled from app stores for three months during a content cleanup campaign. (Picture: Handhout)

Published: 10:00am, 18 Oct 2019

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

For Chinese tech companies, being temporarily pulled from app stores for “rectification” is now such a normal occurrence that some call it a “coming of age ceremony.” But it’s actually a term authorities in China use when they force a company to change their apps to conform with regulations.

The most recent app to draw widespread attention for going through the process? Xiaohongshu, China’s social ecommerce darling.

The Little Red Book is not Maoist propaganda... it’s a social shopping platform with no Western peers

In spite of the mocking name, app rectification is not a celebratory occasion. It can stunt an app’s growth and open the door to competitors, which Xiaohongshu found out after it was scrubbed from app stores at the end of July.

The company said at the time that it was starting a comprehensive “investigation” and “rectification” of its content and will do “deep self-checks” in cooperation with “relevant departments.” That came after multiple media reports saying that the platform was loaded with fake reviews, promotional posts for cigarettes and vulgar content.

“The removal of Red was a signal from Beijing to remind platforms that they need to abide by the rules, with no one too big to be immune,” said Mark Tanner, managing director at marketing research company China Skinny, using Xiaohongshu’s official English name. “A ‘hot’ app like Red is a good app to make an example of.”