Taiwan to ban Chinese app RedNote over fraud concerns

Taiwan says it will block access to popular Chinese social media app RedNote or Xiaohongshu for one year following concerns over online shopping scams.

The island’s Criminal Investigation Bureau said Thursday it detected more than 1,700 fraud cases on the app since last year, with total losses worth more than NT$247m (£5.9m; $7.9m), local media report.

The app is a TikTok-like platform with built-in shopping features. Taiwan’s internet service providers have been ordered to block access to the app, affecting at least three million domestic users, according to local reports.

The BBC has contacted Xiaohongshu and Taiwanese authorities for comment.

BBC checks in Taiwan showed that the platform is no longer accessible to some users. Instead, the app displays a message stating it is unavailable due to “security restrictions.”

Taiwan news outlets said that the app is being banned over a spate of fraud cases and after failing to meet data security standards, putting users at risk.

The app’s operators do not have a local office and has not responded to regulators’ request to submit a plan to improve its cyber-security measures, Taipei Times quoted Taiwan’s interior minister as saying.

Xiaohongshu, which launched in 2013, has hundreds of millions of users worldwide, and is especially popular in Asia. The app’s user-base grew this year as users in America sought alternatives to TikTok after the government threatened to ban the Chinese platform in the US.

Taiwan’s temporary ban comes as concerns grow over Beijing’s use of social media to cultivate more favourable views of China and to spread disinformation.

Beijing views Taiwan as a breakaway province that will eventually be returned to Chinese control. China has not ruled out the use of force to achieve this goal.

Xiaohongshu has also faced pressure from Chinese regulators, which said in September that it has called for “strict punishment” on the firm’s bosses over “negative” posts on its platform.