With days to go before TikTok may be banned in the US over security concerns, users have sent a little-known app to the top of the app store charts.
Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, may not be a household name here but it has millions of users in China, and it is now gaining traction as a potential alternative if the short-form video app really is blocked on January 19.
Decscribed as a mix between Instagram, Pinterest and Reddit, it also allows short video and is an ecommerce platform which says it has 300 million users per month.
In recent weeks, hashtags like #rednote (the app’s name in English) and #TikTokrefugees have trended, as American users seek refuge for somewhere they can keep posting.
Like TikTok, however, there are doubts over the security of the Chinese-owned app.
Officials in Taiwan are restricted from using it due to these fears, in a simialar way to UK politicians being blocked from having TikTok on official devices.
It is banned entirely in India, and also in the US states of Texas and Maryland.
There have also been reports of censorship, with app store reviews complaining of bans for no obvious reason.
The legal case against TikTok has been longrunning, but could come to an end on Sunday.
If there is no last minute reprieve from the Supreme Court, TikTok will be removed from the app store in the US.
It is not clear whether those who have it on their phones already will lose access, but TikTok themselves could block access due to an inability to issue updates which would see the app degrade.
Amid the countdown, TikTok has said reports it could sell its US business to X owner Elon Musk are ‘pure fiction’.
According to Bloomberg News, officials in China – the home of TikTok’s parent firm ByteDance – are weighing up a possible sale to the billionaire if it can not overturn the ban.
But in response, a TikTok spokesperson said: ‘We can’t be expected to comment on pure fiction.’
With all this in mind, people looking for an alternative have flocked to RedNote, and it is now at number one on the social charts in Apple’s UK app store too.
So what actually is Xiaohongshu?
‘Xiaohongshu is a lifestyle platform that inspires people to discover and connect with a range of diverse lifestyles,’ the app itself says.
You can uncover trends such as ‘stove-boiled tea, camping in the wild, frisbee’, cooking, fashion, painting and fitness. Users can also buy directly from creators presenting clothes, fashion, ‘aesthetically pleasing home decr and healthy snacks’.
But politics is not up for discussion, and the app’s name itself has come under scrutinty as it translates as ‘Little Red Book’ according to Radio Free Asia – the name of Communist leader Mao Zedong’s book of quotes, which it was essentially mandatory for all Chinese people to own and carry at all times, although RedBook says this is unrelated to their name.
Waht do users think of Xiaohongshu?
The Xiaohongshu app has thousands of five star reviews, but not everyone is convinced, with ome reviewer writing that it ‘randomly bans your account for no clear reason’ which ‘creates a sense of fear for your own speech’.
But another user praised it saying the ‘atmosphere is great on Red! Much better and polite user groups than those on TikTok.’
Another claimed that ‘posts and comments from IP addresses within China are frequently muted for various reasons. When I was in Europe I posted the same comments and content but was never muted for it’.
Some who recently joined from the US said they said so out of anger at the ban as much as to find an alternative.
One user hit out at Mark Zuckerberg, saying she would ‘rather stare at a language I can’t understand’ than ever use a platform he owned.
It is possible that the Supreme Court could still decide to overule the ban, as they are yet to give a final decision, but indications last week were that they were sceptical of the app’s claim that a ban would damage free speech rights.
TikTok’s owner ByteDance was told it must either sell off the app or be banned on January 19.
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