As “TikTok refugees” flock to RedNote, a US official said the Chinese app could also be banned.
with the US government On TikTok Americans are flocking to the alternative social media platform as they prepare to go to work on Sunday, but it’s another Chinese app that experts say could present the same, if not more, problems. China-owned Xiaohongshu, or “RedNote” as many users call it, has seen a surge in US downloads.
A US official told CBS News on Thursday that RedNote, like TikTok, could face an ultimatum to withdraw or be banned.
“This is the type of app that the law would apply to, and TikTok could face the same restrictions if it’s not taken down,” a US official told CBS News.
ANNA KURTH/AFP/Getty
CBS News has reached out to Xiaohongshu for comment on whether the company agrees with that assessment.
What is RedNote?
Xiaohongshu has been the most downloaded free app on Apple’s US app store since Tuesday. Analysis by market intelligence firm Sensor Tower showed that downloads of the platform in the US have increased by 200% year-over-year and have seen a 194% increase since last week.
QR Code Generator, a company that provides statistics on online trends, reported a 4,900% increase in Google searches for Xiaohongshu in the US on Monday alone.
Xiaohongshu was founded in 2013 and is a lifestyle platform where “more than 300 million users share their life experiences every month,” according to a description on Apple’s app store.
The Chinese photo and video sharing platform is often compared to Instagram. It functions as an e-commerce platform, a guide to travel and fine dining tips, and a tool for users to share content from their daily lives.
Xiaohongshu literally translates to “little red book” in Mandarin, possibly referring to the famous little red book of Communist Party founder Chairman Mao Zedong. China.
This reference did not stop many American users who turned to the app to share their experiences as “TikTok refugees” before the US ban. Videos including the use of the term “TikTok refugee” on RedNote have garnered millions of views and impressions this week.
“This is for TikTok refugees and my fellow Americans, behave on this app! Better behave because everyone in China is so nice to us that we’re colonizing their favorite apps for the evil of our government,” wrote an American user account using the name. “Savannah” was published on Wednesday. The post had garnered almost 128,000 impressions by Thursday.
TikTok, in its international form, it is not available to users in mainland China, meaning that the US move to Xiaohongshu has put Americans in closer contact with Chinese users than before. This led to some fun cultural exchanges.
An American “TikTok refugee” with the username “anieladiaz” posted a video asking Chinese users if they have any questions. A Chinese user commented below the post with a screenshot of what appears to be an English homework assignment. Anieladiaz happily provided the answers to the test questions they shared in their screenshot. Other Chinese users post videos teaching Americans how to use Mandarin slang words.
Is RedNote safe?
The rapid increase in downloads in the US may be a cause for concern among US lawmakers who have banned TikTok. A cybersecurity expert told CBS News that RedNote may actually pose a greater threat.
Adrianus Warmenhoven, cyber security expert at Nord VPN, told CBS News on Wednesday that “RedNote was never designed outside of the Chinese market. All data exchange and all servers where data is shared are in China.” “That means they’re exempt from all that data protection and out of sight of the American government.”
Warmenhoven said that TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, at least kept the data on US-based servers, giving the US government “some moderation or restrictions on how much and how much data can be sent to China.”
He also said there was a lack of transparency in RedNote’s terms, which posed a major cybersecurity risk to Americans.
“Its terms and conditions are in Mandarin and are not clear to non-Chinese speaking users about what data is collected and how it is used,” Warmenhoven said. “I’m pretty sure the millions of people who move don’t use Google Translate to read (terms and conditions) so they don’t know what they’re agreeing to.”
Special US law It was used to ban TikTok – The Protecting Americans from Applications Controlled by Foreign Enemies Act, which President Biden signed into law last April, gives the federal government broad powers to clamp down on foreign social media platforms.
Under the law, Congress can force the platform to divest its U.S. operations of foreign ownership and shut down if it is deemed a threat. The law would apply to any platform that allows users to share content with each other and has more than 1 million monthly active users, is owned by a company located in a country controlled by a foreign enemy, and must be introduced by the president. a significant national security threat.
The legislation is currently under legal challenge by ByteDance, which claims it is unconstitutional and violates the First Amendment, which protects free speech. a sentence from The Supreme Court is waiting in this case.
CBS News asked President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team whether the incoming administration would consider RedNote a national security threat that should be subject to the law. By the time this article was published, the transition team had not responded.
Trump recently spoke out against the TikTok ban. Last month, he said he had a “warm spot in my heart” for TikTok – a reversal from his position when he last held the Oval Office.
The Federal Trade Commission, the agency tasked with enforcing the ban and ensuring that US internet service providers and app store companies such as Apple and Google comply with the law, declined to comment.
RedNote is heavily censored
Content is more visible in RedNote heavily censored More than posts on TikTok. A CBS News analysis found that any search on RedNote for “Xi Jinping,” China’s autocratic president, returned no results.
The term “Free Hong Kong” did not work either. A search for “Taiwan” will turn up several memes welcoming Americans to the platform, but noting that users should recognize Beijing’s enforced narratives that the democratically-ruled island off the coast of China, which the United States is legally obligated to help defend against invasion, is an integral part of China.
A similar search for these terms on TikTok reveals a wide range of political views from users, including posts strongly critical of Chinese censorship.
RedNote is even expanding operations to monitor content given the large number of Americans accessing the app. CBS News found local job listings To review English content, the company in mainland China has advertised online and promises a monthly salary of between $950 and $1,200.
“Users are not going to a place where there is more freedom. RedNote is moderated differently and the algorithm is different than TikTok,” Warmenhoven told CBS News. “You’re not going to be attractive, or it’s not going to spread politically sensitive issues or maybe socially sensitive issues — especially socially sensitive issues in China.”
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