Rednote, the Chinese social media app that surged in global popularity during the brief US TikTok ban in January 2025, is taking concrete steps to separate its international and domestic operations, WIRED reported in April 2026.
The company has launched a dedicated international web domain, Rednote.com, and has been redirecting some users there from its original Chinese domain, Xiaohongshu.com. Its Chinese parent organization, Xiaohongshu, also registered a new entity called Rednote Technology PTE LTD in Singapore in mid-2025, according to public corporate registration databases. The company states that international user data is hosted on Singapore-based servers, though its privacy policy notes that data may also be transferred to and processed in China.
Rednote published two distinct terms-of-service documents — one for domestic users and one for international users — first introduced in December 2025 and most recently updated in late March 2026. While the documents are largely similar, key differences exist. The international version sets the minimum user age at 13, in line with US regulations, while the Chinese version asks users under 18 not to use the platform. Content moderation rules also differ: the Chinese terms include political content restrictions, while the international guidelines prohibit discrimination based on race, religion, age, gender, disability, or sexuality. The international privacy policy specifies Singapore as the primary data storage location.
One area where the terms have become less clear over time is how Rednote determines which policy applies to a given user. Earlier versions from December 2025 stated that anyone registered before December 8, 2025 would be treated as a Chinese user, with those registering afterward using a non-Chinese phone number classified as international. That language was removed from the March 2026 update.
The move follows a path taken by other Chinese tech companies facing regulatory pressure. ByteDance operates TikTok as a separate ecosystem from its Chinese app Douyin, and Tencent applies different rules to WeChat and its domestic counterpart Weixin. Both Beijing and Western governments have intensified scrutiny of data security and content moderation practices by Chinese platforms operating globally.
Rednote, which has around 300 million monthly active users and is widely used in China for lifestyle and travel content, has also begun hiring corporate staff in the US and plans to open regional offices there, according to the tech publication Rest of World. The company did not respond to WIRED’s requests for comment. So far, the content shown to international and domestic users appears to remain the same, though the structural separation suggests the two user bases could diverge more significantly over time.
Source: WIRED