As TikTok Ban Looms, Competitors Are Circling

As we near Sunday’s effective date of a U.S. law that could ban TikTok, a growing number of U.S. TikTok users are joining another Chinese-owned social app: RedNote. The app, known as Xiaohongshu in Chinese, is similar to Instagram. The movement has helped turn RedNote into one of the most downloaded apps in the U.S. almost overnight. 

Some users said migrating to another Chinese-owned platform is a sarcastic move in protest of the imminent U.S. ban on TikTok. On RedNote, some new U.S.-based users are describing themselves as “TikTok refugees” who are fleeing to the app due to the possible ban.