By installing the Chinese app RedNote, which some users are referring to as China’s TikTok, TikTok users are protesting the impending ban that could take effect on Sunday.
National security worries over TikTok’s Chinese parent firm, ByteDance, were a major factor in the platform’s prohibition, and many users are turning to RedNote as an overt form of protest.
RedNote, also called Xiaohongshu in China, is a social media site that offers shopping, short movies, community building resources, and more. It is not owned by ByteDance, nor is it a direct clone of TikTok. Xingyin Information Technology, based in Shanghai, is the owner.
In order to send a message to the U.S. government and the social media company Meta, which stands to gain additional users of its TikTok-like product, Reels, if the ban takes effect, American TikTokers who are afraid of losing the platform have asked their fans to download RedNote with them. In 2022, Meta allegedly employed a Republican lobbying company to incite animosity toward TikTok.
Some have stated that they are ready to engage in weekly Meta blackouts, which entail abstaining from using any Meta apps, including Facebook and Instagram, after being banned.
RedNote and Lemon8, the sibling app of TikTok, were the most downloaded free apps on the Apple App Store on Monday.
If TikTok disappears on Sunday, users say they intend to utilize RedNote as they wait to see if the U.S. Supreme Court will provide an eleventh-hour respite. This is all the information you require about RedNote.
What is RedNote, and what are people saying about it?
RedNote is a Chinese-language social networking app with its headquarters in Shanghai that provides some of the features that Americans are accustomed to in social media apps. A variety of purchasing services are available to users, along with the ability to share movies, upload images, write text, and more.
The interface differs from TikTok’s in that users must log in before they can use the app, and videos do not start playing right away. It is comparable, though, in that it presents content that it believes each user will find appealing.
RedNote has been available in English, but as its popularity expanded, some users observed on Monday that it seemed more accessible for its American user base.
A few posts RedNote welcomed TikTok refugees to the site on Monday.
Some Chinese users commented that they were glad to locate their American counterparts, while other users made jokes about meeting their TikTok-designated Chinese spy on RedNote.
How are memes driving people to the platform?
Videos of individuals making jokes about bidding farewell to their Chinese spy, some in Mandarin, have received millions of views and likes on TikTok. The memes reflect a broader dissatisfaction among users with the ongoing politicization of other social media firms, such as X and Meta, and the U.S. government’s decision to prohibit TikTok in the interest of security and safety, despite the fact that some lawmakers use the app themselves.
On TikTok, the rage was evident as several users gave their justifications for downloading RedNote.
I will download it to my mobile device. I’ll allow it to monitor other apps. A TikTok user wrote, “I’m going to allow it to view my location and all of my contacts, and then I’m just going to let it sit there.” I will allow it to remain there as a small window that allows my personal Chinese spy to observe everything I do.
Others, many of whom have developed sizable fan bases and full-time jobs on TikTok, spoke in a more solemn tone while describing their choices to download RedNote, implying that the U.S. government intended to harm its citizens.
Another TikToker stated, “I firmly believe that our government enjoys and prospers when we are unhappy, struggling, and impoverished.” It’s stunning to see that RedNote, another Chinese software that is hosted and owned in China, is currently the top app in the software Store.
When was RedNote released?
In 2013, RedNote was introduced. Although it expanded gradually throughout time, its greatest surge in popularity occurred during the epidemic.
How many users are on the app?
TechCrunch reports that RedNote has 300 million active users per month. According to TechCrunch, 79% of users are female.
Could RedNote be banned like TikTok?
The short answer seems to be yes, just like for TikTok and Lemon8, but it is more complicated than for these two apps, whose parent firm, ByteDance, is mentioned in the statute.
According to experts, the law grants the executive branch the power to declare a nation a foreign opponent, and in doing so, it may decide to prohibit an app developed in that nation. Since China is already considered a foreign opponent in this instance due to the TikTok ban, the executive branch may determine that additional Chinese apps should also be prohibited.
However, in interviews with The Washington Post, senators who drafted the bill stated that the primary goal of the ban was to target TikTok and its sibling apps, even though it might be applied to foreign-controlled social media platforms.