US govt TikTok ban ‘backfires’ as thousands of users head to Chinese-owned app Xiaohongshu

Ahead of TikTok shutting down in the United States, thousands of users have found solace in a new app — Xioahongshu, a Chinese app similar to Instagram, called RedNote in the West.

TikTok is reportedly preparing to shut down the app in the US on Sunday, Reuters has reported, after its parent company ByteDance failed to divest the app. A law signed in April mandates a ban on new TikTok downloads on Apple and Google app stores if ByteDance failed to divest the site. In March 2023, US lawmakers held a baffling interrogation of TikTok Singapore head Shou Zi Chew about potential Chinese influence over the popular video-sharing platform, displaying fears that the app was somehow being used by China’s Communist Party as a spying tool.

Those fears may have compounded as many Americans are now thronging RedNote, calling themselves TikTok Refugees. Around 50,000 American and Chinese users joined a live chat of the same name on Monday, sharing jokes and comments that were as funny as they were interesting.

So far, RedNote maintains only one version of its app and has not split it into overseas and domestic apps — a rarity among Chinese social apps that are subject to domestic moderation rules. A popular example of the split was found in TikTok and its Chinese counterpart Douyin.

This single version of the app has allowed Chinese and American users to interact in a manner that hasn’t been possible in the past.

On X, many said the TikTok ban and subsequent popularity of RedNote has backfired on the US government

Many noted that the app was doing much to “[undo] years of sinophobic rhetoric” and “propaganda”.

Many pondered the ignorance and racism of users who needed to interact with Chinese people to realise they are “just ordinary folks”.

Many took issue with the term “TikTok refugee,” given the state of the world and the coopting of the term refugee by people of a developed nation who simply lost access to a social media app.

But aside from the serious discoveries, there were a lot of jokes and heartwarming moments, such as Chinese people asking Americans for help with their English homework.

Many also discovered the beauty of Chinese compliments.

There were a lot of jokes about Chinese spies…

And quite a bit of culture shock.

In only two days, more than 700,000 new users joined Xiaohongshu, a person close to the company told Reuters.

The wire service reported that US downloads of RedNote were up more than 200 per cent year-over-year this week, and 194pc from the week prior, according to estimates from app data research firm Sensor Tower.