Chinese Social Media App RedNote Gains US Users Ahead of TikTok Ban

Chinese social media app RedNote has reportedly gained 700,000 new users as U.S. users of TikTok seek a new platform ahead of the approaching ban of that app.

Some earlier users of RedNote, which known as Xiaohongshu in China, have welcomed the new users by swapping photos, questions and answers, while others have complained that their platform was being taken over, Reuters reported Wednesday (Jan. 15).

RedNote has traditionally been a platform for finding recommendations on beauty, food and other lifestyle topics, according to the report.

Unlike some other Chinese social media platforms, RedNote does not require users to have a Chinese phone number and does not operate separate apps for Chinese residents and foreign users, the report said.

Some other apps would not be able to host both Chinese and U.S. users. Weibo requires users to have a Chinese phone number; ByteDance runs TikTok for foreign users and Douyin for Chinese residents; and Instagram and X are blocked by China’s censorship technology, per the report.

New users of RedNote have posted on X some topics that were blocked by censors of the Chinese platform, such as the Tiananmen Square crackdown, the report said.

RedNote is now working to moderate English-language content and build English-Chinese translation tools, according to the report.

President Joe Biden signed a law last year requiring ByteDance to sell TikTok by Sunday (Jan. 19) or see the app no longer supported in the U.S. by platforms like Apple and Google.

Legislators from both parties had backed the ban, citing national security concerns.

With that deadline approaching, it was reported Sunday (Jan. 12) that creators on TikTok are urging their fans to find them on other social media networks.

On Tuesday (Jan. 14), it was reported that China was considering selling TikTok to X owner Elon Musk. Sources said that is one of the plans the Chinese government is debating for the social media app as it prepares for the new Trump administration.

On the other hand, it was reported in December that President-Elect Donald Trump signaled in a speech to conservative supporters that he opposes a ban on TikTok.