Explainer: What is the Chinese app that Americans are running after when TikTok is banned?

Last Updated:January 18, 2025, 12:10 IST

With TikTok’s ban coming closer, American internet users are looking for a new app and it seems they have once again chosen the Chinese app. Xiaohongshu, called Rednote in English, is named…read more

In case of TikTok ban, American users are running towards the new Chinese app. (symbolic picture)

After the decision of the Supreme Court, now it is almost certain that TikTok will be banned in America. In such a situation, many TikTok users are now looking for its alternative. And it seems they have found an alternative. A large number of American youth are turning to Xiaohongshu, a Chinese social media platform. Its English name is RedNote and recently its number of downloads has increased unexpectedly. After all, what is this app and why are people adopting it? What is it about this app that makes people leave other options and go after it?

Why is TikTok getting banned??
According to the law, TikTok’s owner company ByteDance had to sell its American assets, but due to its refusal to do so, the Supreme Court has recently ruled that the proposal to ban TikTok will come into effect this weekend. America’s newly elected President Donald Trump has said that he will reconsider the decision of TikTok ban as soon as he takes oath, i.e. on Monday. Whereas TikTok has also announced that it is going to go “dark” for 17 crore users from Sunday.

All roads seem to be closed
Interestingly, ByteDance has refused to disinvest, while many American investors have expressed their desire to buy it. The interesting thing is that the Parliament has approved the ban on TikTok and now the decision has to be taken by the President and the avenues of the Supreme Court have been closed. The law due to which the ban has been imposed has the support of both American parties.

17 crore users are being affected due to the ban of Tik Tok. (Symbolic photo: Canva)

looking for alternatives
In such a situation, a kind of crisis has arisen for 17 crore users and many of them are turning to another Chinese app Xiaohongshu i.e. RedNote. This app, created in 2013, is considered the Instagram of China and according to the New York Times, it is becoming very popular among young women aged between 20 to 40 years. According to the Associated Press, people use it more as a search engine for products, for travel and restaurant recommendations, and for makeup and skincare tutorials.

This app is not very special in China
According to the New York Times, website traffic tracker Similar Web says that as of December, 85 percent of the traffic on this platform was from China and despite having 300 million users, it is much smaller than the Chinese app Douyin, which is considered to be the Chinese version of TikTok. . Similarly, Roadnote is smaller than Weibo which is considered to be China’s X. But the popularity of Rednote outside China may change the situation.

The surprising thing is that this time also people are preferring Chinese apps as an alternative to TikTok. (symbolic photo: shutterstock)

Many things are not clear yet
In China, the government imposes heavy restrictions on every app and that is why domestic and foreign versions of every app are seen there. ByteDance’s TikTok (International) and Douyin are examples of this. But this is not the case with Xiaohongshu or Rednote, currently Rednote is not separating Chinese content nor is there any condition for using Chinese phones.

Also read: Explainer: What is Oligarchy, which Joe Biden has mentioned in his farewell speech?

American users are not used to the restrictions on Chinese apps. Apart from this, there will also be an issue regarding money. The rules of both TikTok and Rednote are slightly different. But some experts also say that this is a kind of signal for American companies that they need to understand how attractive their products are.