the Taiwanese government The Chinese social media app was banned on Friday (5). Xiao Hongshualso known as rednoteIt is a photo-focused application similar to Instagram from the American company Meta. The app ban comes in the wake of escalating tensions between Taipei and Beijing.
the Ministry of Interior Al Jazeera’s website points out potential security risks and indicates that the app has been involved in at least 1,700 fraud cases since last year.
The Ministry also notes that Taiwanese citizens have incurred approximately US$8 million in losses related to these fraud cases.
The ban, which began on Friday, will be in effect for one year, until RedNote resolves its position in Taiwan.
RedNote is a social photo network similar to Instagram, from the American company Meta. It is estimated that the application has 3 million users on the Asian island.
The ban sparked reactions from the Taiwanese opposition. Leader of the Kuomintang Party, Ching Li WonThe island’s largest opposition party wrote on social media:Many people online are already asking “How to climb the wall to get to Xiaohongshu” (RedNote)This expression is commonly used in China to refer to the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) to bypass censorship in the country.
According to Cheng, whose party advocates close ties with Beijing, the app ban represents a major restriction on internet freedom.
While China blocks popular Western platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Google, Taiwan generally does not impose such restrictions and prides itself on its democratic openness.
However, Al Jazeera has repeatedly warned of the dangers of using Chinese apps, mainly due to the risk of misinformation coming from Beijing.
The Home Office said it had not received a response from RedNote when the government contacted it demanding concrete measures to ensure data security.
Karen Kuo, a spokeswoman for Taiwan’s presidential office, said the ministry provided quick clarifications about fraud and security risks. He said in a press statement: “We respect the ministry’s decision and express our support.”
Taiwan also complained that China targeted Taiwanese to spread disinformation and undermine public trust by using Western social media networks banned in their country.
In October, China’s Taiwan Affairs Office launched a Facebook page using traditional characters, which are used in Taiwan but not in mainland China. The page was soon filled with Taiwanese users posting Taiwanese flags and mocking official Chinese censorship.