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. “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. Tencent’s patriotic PUBG replacement pulls in US$70 million in May 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. Xiaohongshu’s community is heavily reliant on content generated by average users. A company spokeswoman said in a May statement that 97 per cent of posts are user-generated-content, with 3 per cent generated by celebrities or professionals. Xinhua reported on Tuesday that Shanghai authorities had received over 1,000 complaints about Xiaohongshu in the first half-year of 2019, relating to its services and products. Alibaba is the parent company of the South China Morning Post.
