While TikTok faces a US ban, China’s RedNote is leading the Apple app store

Chinese social media app RedNote has risen to the top Apple’s app store, highlighting concerns that TikTok will soon be effectively banned in the US

RedNote, or Xiaohongshu as it is known in China, is the number 1 free software. apple app store on Monday, followed by TikTok’s photo-sharing app Lemon8 and OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

A lot TikTok creators are rushing to find alternatives Where they can continue to post videos while they wait to see what happens with TikTok, which faces a potential ban in the US on January 19. The Supreme Court held oral arguments on the April law last week and seemed more in favor. It is supported by the arguments of the US government ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok poses a national security risk.

Lawyers representing TikTok and its creators have argued that the law exists violates protecting the free speech of millions of US users.

If the Supreme Court upholds the law, third-party service providers apple and Google It is unclear whether President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, will choose to enforce the law, which would punish him for supporting TikTok, effectively banning the app in the United States.

Some TikTok creators are making contingency plans by migrating to RedNote.

A content creator who goes by the username Allieusyaps, a post While he is “good” that TikTok may be banned in the US on Monday, he and other TikTok creators are “not going back to Instagram and Facebook” as they join RedNote.

“Look, I might not have work next week, but we’re going to learn Mandarin, baby!” user wrote.

Another TikTok creator named Krystan Walmsley placed a short video that teaches people how to set up and customize their RedNote account.

“This app is so cute and so far so much fun,” Walmsley said.

Shanghai-based RedNote was founded in 2013 and is increasingly challenging Alibaba and Douyin, ByteDance’s version of TikTok in China, in e-commerce and social media. As of July 2024, it has approximately 300 million monthly active users report By South China Morning Post.

According to PitchBook, RedNote was valued at $17 billion in July after raising funding from investors such as Boyu Capital and HongShan Capital Group, formerly the Chinese investment arm of Sequoia Capital. According to PitchBook, it has raised more than $900 million in total funding and has more than 2,000 employees.

Representatives for RedNote and TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Look: TikTok is regarded as “China’s eyes and ears in Western society”.