U.S. users are veering massively toward the Chinese “RedNote” app; this move is not surprising since, unless there are last-minute rescues, TikTok will be banned in the U.S. on January 19, and it will not be possible to access it even with a VPN service.
This user initiative was labeled “TikTok refugees,” and as a result the RedNote app was among the most downloaded from the app store nationwide.
RedNote is in fact a competitor app to its rival TikTok that has had a strong engagement of the younger generation in China and Taiwan; it has over 300 million active and registered users and appears to be an app with many features from both TikTok and Instagram, where people can share photos and short videos with others.
There are over 63,000 posts with the hashtag, #TikTokrefugee, in which Chinese words and phrases are taught, as well as showing short tutorials on how to use the properly the app.
The app, however, is not exempt from controversy: similar to TikTok, reports of censorship against those who criticize the Chinese regime have surfaced.
In Taiwan, public officials are banned from using RedNote because of alleged security risks associated with Chinese software.
Since RedNote has gained popularity among Americans, some Chinese users have humorously referred to themselves as “Chinese spies,” alluding to U.S. officials’ concerns that TikTok may be exploited by China for espionage or political manipulation.
RedNote’s Chinese name, Xiaohongshu, translates to “little red book,” but the company insists it is not a direct reference to Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong’s book of quotations, despite having the same name.
Should the Supreme Court uphold the ban, TikTok’s app would not disappear; rather, no more support, including downloading the app itself, would be provided from available app stores; this process, however, could take longer.
But even if TikTok were “saved,” thus avoiding the national ban, it would open up open competition with other apps that are emerging, among them RedNote and Lemon8, owned by ByteDance.
