Xiaohongshu tightens AI rules, virtual-person accounts must declare
On August 7, Xiaohongshu extended its AI disclosure requirements from individual posts to whole accounts, requiring AI virtual-person accounts to enable an AI virtual-person tag and warning of throttling for non-compliance.
On August 7, Xiaohongshu announced an upgrade to its AI governance rules, extending the AI disclosure requirement from individual posts to whole accounts. Accounts operated as AI virtual persons must disclose this on their profile and enable an AI virtual-person tag visible to other users. This is the first time a major Chinese social platform has extended AI disclosure to the account subject itself.
To comply, account operators edit their profile, select AI creator under occupation, then AI virtual person, and display the occupation tag. Xiaohongshu's AI governance lead said that when users browse posts or interact with an account, they should know whether the post or the account is AI-generated. Disclosing only individual posts no longer meets users' right to know.
Accounts that proactively disclose their AI virtual-person status will not be throttled. High-quality creators who are first to disclose may get priority access to new AI tools and features on the platform. Accounts that fail to disclose and are detected as AI virtual persons will face graduated penalties including traffic throttling.
On the content side, Xiaohongshu launched a self-declaration feature in 2023 that requires creators to declare posts that are AI-generated or AI-polished. For undeclared posts detected as AI-generated, the platform adds a clear label. In 2026 the platform automatically labels more than 300,000 undeclared AI posts per day. The new rule aligns with the Administrative Measures for Labeling AI-Generated Synthetic Content.