Bilibili expands globally as Chinese video platform grows
▼ Summary
– Bilibili relaunched its international app without identity verification and plans an English-language website, with content identical across its international and Chinese sites.
– The company is hiring community managers in Los Angeles, London, Mexico City, São Paulo, Istanbul, and Tokyo, plus AI moderation staff in Singapore, and has approached Western creators like MrBeast.
– Its Chinese platform has 376 million monthly active users, mostly young, and the pitch targets a “Gen Z Coded, affluent and well-educated” audience with a sponsored content marketplace in development.
– In the US, coverage questions whether Bilibili faces TikTok-style restrictions, but in Europe the Digital Services Act applies from launch, with EU designation at 45 million monthly users bringing audits and risk assessments.
– The DSA already led to a €200mn fine for Temu over unsafe products, and dropping identity verification raises risk-assessment obligations, especially regarding minors, which the article flags as the key issue to watch.
Bilibili has quietly dropped its identity verification requirement for international users while rolling out an English-language website and posting community manager openings across six global cities, including London. The company confirms that content on its international and Chinese platforms will be identical.
The Shanghai-based video platform is now making its most deliberate push yet into Western markets. After relaunching its global app, Bilibili is actively recruiting English-speaking creators and building the infrastructure needed to compete beyond its home turf.
The key shift comes down to access. Previously, overseas users needed to upload a passport or similar government-issued ID before they could post anything. That barrier has been removed entirely. The refreshed app now blends Chinese and international uploads into a single unified feed, which signals a clear change in strategy.
Bilibili’s own communications make the ambition explicit. Its official account on X announced that the platform is expanding globally, adding that the content available on its American and Chinese versions will be “the same.”
The numbers behind this expansion deserve attention. Bilibili’s domestic operation currently serves roughly 376 million monthly active users, most of them young, and the company has spent the past decade refining the engagement loops that keep creators and viewers locked in, much like YouTube.
The job listings reveal the geographic targets. Openings for community managers now appear in Los Angeles, London, Mexico City, São Paulo, Istanbul, and Tokyo, while AI-driven content moderation roles are based out of Singapore.
The outreach to creators follows a well-worn playbook. Bilibili has already approached major Western influencers, including MrBeast, and its pitch materials describe the audience as “Gen Z Coded, affluent and well-educated.” A sponsored content marketplace is also reportedly in the works.
U. S. media coverage has predictably centered on one question: will Bilibili face the same fate as TikTok? It is a fair concern in a country that responded to another Chinese-owned platform by forcing a divestment.
Europe, however, operates under different rules, and they may prove more consequential. The Digital Services Act (DSA) kicks in the moment a platform begins serving EU users. Should Bilibili hit 45 million monthly users within the bloc, it would be designated as a very large online platform, triggering mandatory audits, risk assessments, and researcher access.
Brussels has already shown it will use those tools against Chinese firms. Temu, for example, was hit with a €200 million fine under the DSA over unsafe product listings, setting a clear precedent for how these cases unfold.
The removal of identity verification is the detail most worth tracking. It is a growth-first decision, but the DSA demands that platforms evaluate the risks their design choices create, particularly for minors. That conversation will be far messier than any outright ban.
Beneath the regulatory noise, the competitive stakes are genuine. YouTube is currently locked in a bidding war with Netflix for top creator talent, offering exclusivity deals to keep names attached. Now it faces a challenger with nearly 400 million users that has just made the same regulatory bet that Temu and AliExpress made before it. Whether that bet pays off will depend on how smoothly Bilibili navigates the rules it has chosen to engage with.
(Source: The Next Web)
