As the US TikTok ban approaches, short form video creators and fans have been looking for alternatives. One candidate is Instagram Reels. However, that platform has been attracting controversy of its own lately. A surprise frontrunner has emerged in the form of RedNote, a previously Chinese-only app. American TikTok users have been flocking to RedNote en masse, and it might just be the next big thing.
What is RedNote, and How Does it Differ from TikTok?
Like TikTok, RedNote is a social short-form video sharing app. It became the most popular free app on the Apple app store earlier this week. The app has around 300 monthly active users and is known as Xiaohongshu/小红书 in China.
That translates to Little Red Book. Yes, it is a winking reference to Mao Zedong. The company was founded in 2013 and has raised over $900 million in funding and grown to more than 7,000 employees.
RedNote isn’t precisely like TikTok. It does incorporate short-form video sharing but has a number of other features, too. It’s more focused on online commerce, with product reviews being a central part of the platform.
RedNote’s userbase has historically skewed young and female, making it similar in ways to the social sharing platform Pinterest. It has been described as the “Chinese Instagram.”
RedNote, China, and Censorship
One important difference between RedNote and TikTok is that the app was created for a Chinese audience. That means that most of the content, as well as many of the menus, are in the Chinese language. There is an English setting available, but you’ll still be encountering a lot of Chinese text.
If RedNote continues to gain popularity among English-speaking TikTok users, it’s possible the developers will translate more of the app. But for the time being, you may have to do some impromptu translation using your phone or an online service.
RedNote also has stronger restrictions on content than TikTok, especially with regard to sexuality and nudity. Women wearing revealing clothing may find that their posts are removed by automated or human reviews. Additionally, users mentioning LGBTQ+ identities may find themselves banned.
These restrictions reflect RedNote’s status as an app developed for the mainstream Chinese market. American TikTok users will have to weigh these restrictions carefully if they decide to give the app a shot.
How are RedNote Users Reacting?
As American users have flooded RedNote, the hashtag “TikTok refugee” received nearly two million comments. And reactions to the influx of American TikTok users on RedNote have varied quite a bit.
On Reddit, one user said “Before this week… It was a really nice community of like minded fellow chinese people where people shared tips, recipes, fashion, restaurant recommendations, and the like… Now its ruined, gotten too much attention.”
Other Chinese users have responded by welcoming American TikTokers or even asking for help with their English homework. It’s possible that RedNote will be a site for cultural exchange between Americans and Chinese, with a number of American users stating their intent to learn some Chinese in order to navigate the app. Some English-speaking users have even begun subtitling their posts in Chinese and vice-versa.
Will RedNote Be Banned in the US?
Last year, congress passed legislation that required TikTok owner ByteDance to sell the service’s U.S. operations or be banned. The ban would operate by penalizing any platform or app store that continues to make TikTok available in the US. It is currently set to go into effect on January 19 if ByteDance refuses to sell.
The stated rationale for banning TikTok was that it presented a threat to national security. According to this line of thinking, the Chinese government could compel ByteDance to furnish them with private user data.
Users have argued that a TikTok ban violates their First Amendment rights. However, in a January 10 hearing, the Supreme Court has argued that ByteDance itself has no First Amendment rights as a Chinese company.
All of this is to say that the political reasoning behind the TikTok ban has less to do with the app specifically than with fears of China. There is currently no legislation targeting RedNote. However, if the app reaches the same level of popularity as TikTok has in the US, there’s no reason not to think that lawmakers might take a similar approach.
In fact, the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act gives the executive the power to ban any app produced by a “foreign adversary.” China has already been dubbed such an adversary. In theory, it would be simple for the government to ban RedNote as well.
Incoming President Trump has vowed that he will “save TikTok,” but it’s unclear what this means. His inauguration is set for the day after the ban would go into effect. And the Supreme Court is currently expected to uphold the ban.
It’s worth noting that in 2022, Taiwan banned government employees from using RedNote out of national security concerns.
What Other Alternatives Are There for TikTok Users?
Meta’s Instagram Reels might have been a viable alternative for American TikTok users. However, Meta’s recent move away from moderating hateful speech has led many to consider dropping the app. It’s ironic, considering that Meta likely stood to gain the most from a TikTok ban. But ownership currently seems more interested in getting more “masculine energy” at Meta, whatever that means.
ByteDance’s Lemon8 app has also received some attention in the last few weeks. Like TikTok, it’s an app developed specifically for non-Chinese markets. Lemon8 isn’t explicitly mentioned in the law requiring a sale or ban of TikTok.
But Christopher Krepich, communications director for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, has said that Lemon8 will be included when the ban goes into effect. And the TikTok ban bill includes “any successor application or service and any other application or service developed or provided by ByteDance.”
For now, TikTok users may want to back up their videos using a new service provided by lesser-known competitor Triller.
