TikTok users flock to Chinese app RedNote as US ban looms

TikTok users in the US are migrating to a Chinese app called RedNote with the threat of a ban just days away.

The shift by users who call themselves “TikTok refugees” has made RedNote the most downloaded app on Apple’s US App Store on Monday.

RedNote is a TikTok competitor popular with youthful people in China, Taiwan and other Mandarin-speaking populations.

It has about 300 million monthly users and looks like a combination of TikTok and Instagram. It allows users, mostly youthful urban women, to trade lifestyle tips from dating to fashion.

Supreme Court justices are due to rule on a law that set a 19 January deadline for TikTok to either sell its US operations or face a ban in the country.

TikTok has repeatedly said that it will not sell its US business and its lawyers have warned that a ban will violate free talk protections for the platform’s 170 million users in the US.

Meanwhile, RedNote has welcomed its recent users with open arms. There are 63,000 posts on the topic “TikTok refugee”, where recent users are taught how to navigate the app and how to use basic Chinese phrases.

“To our Chinese hosts, thanks for having us – sorry in advance for the chaos,” a recent US user wrote.

But like TikTok, there have also been reports of censorship on RedNote when it comes to criticism of the Chinese government.

In Taiwan, community officials are restricted from using RedNote due to alleged safety risks of Chinese software.

As more US users joined RedNote, some Chinese users have also jokingly referred to themselves as “Chinese spies”, a reference to US officials’ concerns that TikTok could be used by China as a tool for spying and political manipulation.

RedNote’s Chinese name, Xiaohongshu, translates to Little Red Book, but the app says it is not a reference to Chinese communist chief Mao Zedong’s book of quotations with the same name.

But safety concerns have not deterred users from flocking to RedNote.

Sarah Fotheringham, a 37-year-ancient school canteen worker in Utah, says the shift to RedNote is a way to “snub” the government.

“I’m just a straightforward person living a straightforward life,” Ms Fotheringham told the BBC in a RedNote communication.

“I don’t have anything that China doesn’t, and if they desire my data that impoverished they can have it.”

Marcus Robinson, a fashion designer in Virginia, said he created his RedNote account over the weekend to distribute his clothing brand and “be ahead of the curve”.

Mr Robinson told the BBC he was was only “slightly hesitant” about accepting the terms and conditions of using the app, which were written in Mandarin.

“I wasn’t able to actually read them so that was a little concerning to me,” he said, “but I took my chance.”

While a ban will not make TikTok disappear immediately, it will require app stores to stop offering it – which could kill it over period.

But even if TikTok dodges a ban, it may prove helpless against users moving to alternative platforms.

Some social media users inform the BBC that they discover themselves scrolling on RedNote more than TikTok.

“Even if TikTok does remain I will continue to use my platform I’ve created on RedNote,” Tennessee tech worker Sydney Crawley told the BBC.

Ms Crawley said she got over 6,000 followers within 24 hours of creating her RedNote account.

“I will continue to try to construct a following there and view what recent connections, friendships, or opportunities it brings me.”

Ms Fotheringham, the canteen worker, said RedNote “opened my globe up to China and its people”.

“I am now able to view things I never would have seen,” she said. “Regular Chinese people, finding out about their population, life, school, everything, it has been so much fun.”

The throng so far has been “super welcoming”, said Mr Robinson, the designer.

“I adore RedNote so far … I just require to discover how to talk Mandarin!”