Xiaohongshu (小紅書), also known as RedNote, is a Chinese social networking and e-commerce platform founded in 2013. Launched initially as an online shopping platform, it has evolved into something similar to Instagram, focusing on lifestyle content including fashion, beauty, and travel. The name is a tongue-in-cheek reference to Chinese leader Mao Zedong’s famous “Little Red Book,” or the Quotations of Chairman Mao (毛主席语录), which many Chinese carried during the Cultural Revolution period — suggesting the contemporary platform is an essential guide, in this case to shopping, that users must always consult. The app reported 300 million monthly active users worldwide by August 2025, nearly 80 percent of whom are women. In 2022, leaked documents published by China Digital Times revealed that Xiaohongshu’s content moderation teams censor posts about topics sensitive to the Chinese Communist Party, including derogatory nicknames for General Secretary Xi Jinping, labor strikes, and student suicides. In January 2025, Xiaohongshu experienced a significant influx of American users following TikTok’s week-long ban in the US.