HONG KONG – As the threat of a TikTok ban looms, U.S. TikTok users are flocking to the Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu – making it the top downloaded app in the U.S.
The U.S. Supreme Court is due to rule on a law that stipulates TikTok must be divested from its Chinese parent company ByteDance by Jan. 19 or face a ban in the U.S. over national security concerns.
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After the justices seemed inclined to let the law stand, masses of TikTok users began creating accounts on Xiaohongshu, including hashtags such as #tiktokrefugee or #tiktok to their posts. Since Monday, Xiaohongshu has become the top downloaded free app on Apple’s App Store in the U.S.
Xiaohongshu, which in English means “Little Red Book” is a Chinese social media app that combines e-commerce, short video and posting functions.
According to the BBC, The Little Red Book, or Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong, was propaganda that become mandatory to own and carry one during China’s “Cultural Revolution” in the 1960s.
“The Little Red Book - or, to give its full title, Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong - contains 267 aphorisms from the Communist Chinese leader, covering subjects such as class struggle, ‘correcting mistaken ideas’ and the ‘mass line’, a key tenet of Mao Zedong Thought. Included is Mao’s famous remark that ‘political power grows out of the barrel of a gun,’” the BBC said.
Chinese users on Xiaohongshu have so far welcomed American users, with some offering to teach them Chinese. Others have offered tips on navigating the Chinese internet, warning the new users not to mention or discuss anything considered politically sensitive as they may get censored. In some cases, Chinese students have asked the Americans for help with their English homework.
Like most apps and internet services in China, Xiaohongshu is subject to censorship. Platforms typically enforce censorship by deleting or shadowbanning content that Beijing deems politically sensitive. Large Western platforms, such as Google and Facebook, are blocked in China.
Though Xiaohongshu has seen an influx of users, it is not clear if the app could replace TikTok, which has created an ecosystem that allows for e-commerce and advertising. Before TikTok was under threat, the overwhelming majority of Xiaohongshu’s users were Chinese, and the app, which lacks translation features, is not optimized for an international user base.
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