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Users are flocking to another Chinese social media app as the TikTok ban looms

The rednote logo on a white background

When Biden signed the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act (PAFACA) into law last April, one of the primary arguments for the bill was national security. Under this act, TikTok was required to sell its US operations or face a ban by January 19, 2025.

For the US, the threat of China is very real, just look at the various reports surrounding China. For instance, there's the possibility that TP-Link routers could be banned in the US, and the US has imposed several export restrictions on China, punishing companies that don't comply.

There is also a last-minute rule from Biden that will expand restrictions on the export of Nvidia AI chips to countries like China, a rule that Nvidia is fiercely opposing.

So, you get the idea: the US doesn't have the best relationship with China, and the government is uncomfortable with a Chinese platform operating in the US, with millions of users, ripe for data harvesting.

In the midst of all this, we have Mark Zuckerberg's Meta lobbying against TikTok. Can you blame the company? Instagram Reels launched in 2020 as a response to TikTok, but by 2021, many Instagram reels were simply recycled TikTok videos.

In 2022, Meta gave Targeted Victory, a consulting firm, over $100 million to create campaigns against TikTok, portraying it as a danger to American children and society. If TikTok is gone, many of its US users will probably flock to Reels.

Now, with January 19 approaching, TechCrunch reports that users are flocking to RedNote (or Xiaohongshu, as it is known in China). RedNote, a social media app with support for short-form videos, shopping, and more, has already shot to the top of the App Store charts.

According to TechCrunch, several TikTok creators are promoting RedNote (you might have seen the hashtag #TikTokRefugees in their posts), encouraging followers to join them on the platform. RedNote may be new to US users, but it has actually been around since 2013.

With a layout similar to Pinterest, it has become quite popular among Chinese users, particularly women, with over 250 million monthly active users. The Financial Times reports that the platform is currently valued at $17 billion.

It would be ironic if TikTok’s ban falls through, and the US government pats itself on the back for eliminating one Chinese app over national security concerns, only for another Chinese app to replace it.

On TikTok, a new trend has emerged where users "thank their Chinese spy for watching over them all these years," a joke aimed at the US’s frequent anti-China complaints about TikTok.

NBC News reports that some angry users are downloading RedNote out of spite, with one user commenting:

I’m going to download it on my phone. I’m going to let it track other apps. I’m going to give it permission to see my location and all of my contacts, and then I’m just going to let it sit there.

This comes as TikTok denies reports claiming it is considering selling its US operations to Elon Musk.

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