- Chinese social media platforms are set to display users' locations based on their IP addresses.
- The feature will be tested on platforms such as China's "Instagram" Xiaohongshu and Douyin, the name for TikTok in China.
- The platforms said users cannot disable the feature, adding that it is aimed at fighting misinformation.
Chinese social media platforms are set to display user locations based on their internet protocol (IP) addresses, in a move the companies said would help to fight the spread of misinformation.
The platforms include Xiaohongshu, China's version of Instagram, and video-streaming platforms Kuaishou and Douyin — the name for TikTok in China — according to announcements made by the companies on Friday.
Without providing a date, Xiaohongshu said on its site that the feature aims to "maintain a genuine interactive community atmosphere" and prevent users from "pretending to be locals" and "spreading rumors." However, as the feature is still in the "testing stage," users cannot manually enable or disable it, the company's post said.
For users in China, the name of the province they are in will be displayed on their profile pages, while country names will be revealed for anyone using the app overseas, Xiaohongshu said.
Kuaishou made an almost identical announcement on its official WeChat account, while Douyin said that it would begin testing the feature at the end of April, citing users' "bad behaviors" such as "impersonating" people and spreading "malicious rumors."
—Zeyi Yang 杨泽毅 (@ZeyiYang) April 15, 2022
Meanwhile, the Quora-like site Zhihu said it would display user locations next to every post.
The moves follow in the footsteps of China's Twitter-like Weibo platform, which began displaying user locations on profiles last month, citing misinformation surrounding recent events in Ukraine and the domestic Covid situation as justifications for the feature.
Reactions to the latest announcements have been mixed, with many social media users voicing privacy concerns. However, some users noted that it would be easy to get around the feature by using a virtual private network to hide one's IP address.
Social media platforms in China are currently not required by law to display user locations. However, this was requested in a draft regulation document published by the country's internet watchdog last October.
The Chinese government has been trying to "clean up" China's social media platforms and maintain public order online, pushing content platforms to manage and watch their users more closely.
Last September, 14 Chinese online content platforms — including Weibo and Douyin — signed a collective declaration to enforce "self-discipline" in the country's cyberspace.
