Chinese language Substack publication, 莽莽
, has published a fascinating interview with a content reviewer of a large tech company in China.The interview is with Chén Lìjiā 陈立佳 (an alias), who was born in 1997 and began working as a content reviewer in 2020 for a major internet company in China. While the company isn’t directly named, it's described as operating the country's largest search engine, with a user base exceeding 1 billion.
All searches and user-posted content on the platform go through an extensive review process by the team where Chen works, which removes content that’s banned or deemed politically sensitive.
Content reviewers (审查员) make up a substantial part of the workforce in China’s internet companies. According to available data, ByteDance, currently China’s largest internet company, employs over 100,000 people, with more than 20% of them dedicated to content review and moderation. At Bilibili (B站), a popular video-sharing platform, this proportion reaches 27%.
The interview provides an inside look at the workings of China’s censorship machine—something long-standing RealTime Mandarin readers are likely familiar with, as we frequently cover news stories that are fully or partially censored in China.
According to Chen, every piece of content posted online goes through an initial AI review, followed by two levels of human moderation. Frontline reviewers check over 10,000 pieces daily, while second-line reviewers double-check up to 40,000-50,000 items a day, sometimes even more.
Guidelines for censorship change frequently, with updates provided through regular briefings and training sessions. So what may be allowed at one time could later be politically sensitive and banned. The decision-making process and reasoning behind these shifts, however, are not shared with moderators, leaving them to work with limited context.
A good recent example from this newsletter of how shifts like this happen is the case of Halloween celebrations in Shanghai.
Last year, some streets in Shanghai were filled with costumed revellers celebrating the Western holiday in a uniquely Chinese way, drawing national and international media attention. This year, however, mass Halloween gatherings were banned in the city, and related online content was tightly controlled.
We dive deeper into this topic in the Member Podcast.
The interview also reveals the rarely seen human side of China’s censorship system: the individuals working within it.
When asked about his motivation for becoming a content reviewer, Chen’s answer is simple: it’s just a way to make a living:
"If I don’t take this job, I won’t be able to make ends meet."
我不端这碗饭的话，我活不下去。
“Rice bowl" (饭碗) is a phrase we’ve explored before: a metaphor for a job.
Chen goes on to describe the challenges and anxieties of his work.
His experiences resonate with many of the themes we’ve explored in this newsletter regarding the lives of “working people” (打工人) in China’s tech sector.
He is faced with "involuted" (内卷) competition, being a "small screw" (螺丝钉) in a huge machine with little prospects for advancing within the company, and unlikely to get a better role elsewhere.
His experience as a young graduate entering China’s competitive job market is similar to the stories of many other youngsters we've covered in this newsletter who are trying to find work in China.
He didn’t get into his top-choice university despite having strong gaokao scores. Instead, he ended up studying law, a field he wasn’t particularly interested in, in college. After graduation, he failed the civil service exam (考公) and took a low-level job at an intellectual property agency. However, he quickly moved on, working briefly at an educational institution, followed by a stint at a property management company, and six months working at a delivery company.
After drifting for over two years, he joined his current company in Beijing.
His content moderation role is outsourced to a third-party tech company, meaning he isn’t a direct employee of the main platform. As a result, his work environment is challenging: he has fewer job protections, making it easier for mistakes to lead to dismissal. His work location changes frequently, and his hours can be long and unpredictable, especially during periods when China's internet content is monitored more closely. Additionally, he’s isolated, working in small groups with limited contact outside his team.
When asked about how he feels about his job, he describes how there is no emotion or sense of conscience. It’s just like any job.
So many people rely on these jobs to make a living.
If they’re really not allowed to do it anymore, how are they supposed to survive? Although many people might say, 'It’s just a job', can you provide me with another one if this one is gone? Can you?
So, not resolving the issue has its advantages too. After all, only by solving the problem of making a living can we go on to address moral concerns. Otherwise, if even survival becomes an issue, we risk being reduced to mere beasts.
社会上那么多人需要吃饭，真的不让人再干这份工作了，这些人该怎么活呢？虽然很多人会说，这就是份工作而已，可是没有了这份工作，你能给我另外一份工作吗？你们给得了么？所以不解决也有不解决的好处。毕竟只有解决了吃饭问题才能进一步解决道德问题，否则连吃饭问题都解决不了的话，我们会生生变为野兽。
But when digging deeper into if there is anything he regrets, he admits that 2021 was a tough year, when there were strict content moderation rules around the disastrous COVID lockdowns in Xi'an, and catastrophic floods in Zhengzhou, both of which we discussed in this newsletter at the time.
He even considered quitting his job back then, but like with many other roles in China, there are plenty of other people to do the job if he doesn’t:
“I just don’t want to be in this line of work anymore.
But the people around me try to reassure me, saying if I don’t delete things, someone else will.
My friends even question me, asking what else I could do if I didn’t do this job. Everyone knows survival is the most important thing.
Morality is something that can be considered only once survival is secured."
就是不想干这行了，但周边的人会开导我说，我不删也会有其他人删，而且朋友们还会反问我，问我不干这个还能干啥？大家都知道生存最重要，道德这东西是在生存获得保障后才能存在的。
So, that’s what we’re exploring this week!
🎧 Podcast Preview: Did you know that 无奈 (wúnài) has three distinct meanings and uses in Chinese? It’s one of those words that seems simple at first, but is actually quite elusive. In this week’s Member Podcast, we break down 无奈 from every angle, exploring its nuanced meanings and showing you how to use it naturally. Plus, we’ve recorded the full MANG MANG interview an audio article—tune in at the 9-minute mark to hear what life is really like as a content moderator!
Favourite Five
1. 水 shuǐ
superficial, not substantial
这种培训都非常水，不能指望从中可以看到什么东西 - This kind of training is very superficial; you can’t expect to gain anything from it.
2. 饭碗 fàn wǎn
a job (colloquial)
我不端这碗饭的话，我活不下去 - If I didn’t hold this job, I wouldn’t survive.
Related:
吃饱饭 chī bǎo fàn - to make a living, get by
3. 取之不尽 qǔ zhī bú jìn
inexhaustible, endless
毕竟螺丝钉是取之不尽的，没有我们，还会有其他人 - After all, screws are inexhaustible; if it’s not us, there will be others.
4. 蜻蜓点水 qīng tíng diǎn shuǐ
skimming the surface, briefly involved
我在四五个不同的行业待过，但都是蜻蜓点水，很快就不干了 - I’ve worked in four or five different industries, but only briefly in each and quickly left.
5. 食君之禄，担君之忧 shí jūn zhī lù, dān jūn zhī yōu
those who receive benefits from their lord should also share in his worries
我当时就是想把这份工作干好，食君之禄担君之忧，这是我真正的想法 - At that time, I just wanted to do my job well. Those who receive benefits from their lord should also share in his worries. That was what I really believed in.
More: Read more about the grim origins of this in tomorrow's Sinica Phrase of the Week.
Consuming the Conversation
Useful words
6. 摸鱼 mō yú
slack off, avoid work
所以后来工作量越来越大的时候，我就开始摸鱼了 - As the workload increased, I started slacking off.
7. 画饼 huà bǐng
dangling a carrot, making empty promises
我觉得这就是公司给我们画的饼，一直说我们有从外包员工转为正式员工的机会 - The company always says that we contractors have a chance to become full-time employees. But I think this is just an empty promise.
8. 迷茫 mí máng
confused, lost
之后我非常迷茫，不知道自己能干什么，在职业方面也没有明确的规划 - Afterwards, I felt very lost, unsure of what I could do or what my career plan can look like.
9. 无奈 wú nài
resigned, no other choice
但我对法律没有任何兴趣，学这个专业真的是被逼无奈 - But I wasn’t interested in law at all. I did this degree because I didn't have any better choice.
10. 底层 dǐ céng
bottom tier, lower class
按照生活标准来说的话，我绝对是底层 - I definitely belong to the lower class judging by living standards.
Three-character phrases
11. 螺丝钉 luó sī dīng
cog in the machine
也就是说他们希望作为螺丝钉的审核员知道这件事是敏感的 - In other words, they want content moderators, who are mere cogs in the machine, to understand that this is a sensitive issue.
12. 工具人 gōng jù rén
tool person, unimportant worker
因为非常清楚自己的“工具人”定位，审核员的工作在陈立佳看来无关正义 - Clearly understanding his role as just a “tool”, Chen Lijia views the reviewer’s work as amoral.
Related:
打手 dǎ shǒu - henchman, tool
13. 负罪感 fù zuì gǎn
guilt, sense of guilt
我从始至终都没有负罪感，因为我做的就是这个工作 - I never felt any guilt because I was just doing my job.
Idioms
14. 兜兜转转 dōu dōu zhuàn zhuàn
circle around
大学毕业后我就去考公务员了。报考的是政府办公厅和党政办公厅的职位，但是兜兜转转了两年都没考上 - After graduating, I took the civil service exams for government and party office positions, but after two years of trying, I still didn’t get in.
15. 鬼鬼祟祟 guǐ guǐ suì suì
sneaky, secretive
公司所有的培训都是这么鬼鬼祟祟的 - All of the company’s training sessions are so secretive.
16. 虚晃一枪 xū huǎng yì qiāng
to feint, make a false move
不会明确说，只是虚晃一枪似的给演示一下，让我们把好关 - They wouldn’t say it directly. Rather, they’d just show us some irrelevant cases and ask us to keep a close watch.
17. 出头之日 chū tóu zhī rì
day of emergence, out of the woods
我现在有一种永无出头之日的感觉。就是不管我怎么努力都出不了头 - I feel like I’m doomed for eternity; no matter how hard I try, I can’t get ahead.
18. 数以万计 shù yǐ wàn jì
tens of thousands
数以万计且人数仍在不断增长的中国互联网审核员 - There are tens of thousands of content moderators on the Chinese internet, and the number is still growing.
19. 轻车熟路 qīng chē shú lù
experienced, familiar
然后问我会如何处理，我对这些可谓轻车熟路，甚至我知道的比考官都多 - Then they asked how I would handle it. I’m very experienced with this, even knowing more than the interviewer.
20. 耳濡目染 ěr rú mù rǎn
influenced through exposure
你为什么会对政治这么感兴趣？耳濡目染吧。小时候经常听我爷爷骂共产党 - Why are you so interested in politics? Probably from exposure. I often heard my grandfather criticise the Communist Party when I was young.
21. 手起刀落 shǒu qǐ dāo luò
swift, decisive action
这直接反应了在经济下行、愈发内卷的社会环境中，Z世代审核员手起刀落 - This directly reflects how Gen Z reviewers cut off [content] without hesitation in an economy downturn while facing increasingly intense competition.
Phrases
22. 放他一马 fàng tā yì mǎ
to let someone off
你会不会把枪口抬高一下，选择不封，放他一马 - Would you close one eye and let him off by choosing not to remove the account?
23. 硬着头皮 yìng zhe tóu pí
to bite the bullet, force oneself to do something
我也不知道我还能学什么，所以就只能硬着头皮去学了四年法律 - I didn’t know what else to take, so I bit the bullet and studied law for four years.
More: a phrase we’ve learned before as exhausted students in China “grit their teeth and bear” the endless classes.
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