cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/24330389

Known as Xiaohongshu in China, RedNote is a social media platform that includes images, short-form videos, community building tools, shopping and more. It is not a one-to-one TikTok clone, and it is not owned by ByteDance. It is owned by Shanghai-based Xingyin Information Technology.

American TikTokers who fear losing the platform have suggested their followers join them in downloading RedNote to send a message to the U.S. government, as well as the social media company Meta, which stands to gain new users of its TikTok-like product, Reels, if the ban goes into effect. Meta reportedly used a Republican lobbying firm to spread ill will toward TikTok in 2022.

On Monday, RedNote was the top free-to-download app on the Apple App Store, followed by TikTok’s sister app Lemon8.

On TikTok, some videos of people joking about saying goodbye to their “Chinese spy” (some in Mandarin) have racked up millions of views and likes. The memes are part of a deeper resentment some users feel toward the U.S. government for moving to ban TikTok in the name of security and safety even though some lawmakers use it themselves, as well as toward the continued politicization of other social media companies, like X and Meta.

“I’m going to download it on my phone. I’m going to let it track other apps. I’m going to give it permission to see my location and all of my contacts and then I’m just going to let it sit there,” a TikTok user posted. “I’m going to let it sit there as a little window through which my personal Chinese spy can see everything that I’m doing.”

“Our government, I’m convinced, loves and thrives seeing us unhappy and seeing us struggle and seeing us poor,” another TikToker said. “Seeing that RedNote, another Chinese app, which is owned and hosted in China, is the No. 1 app in the App Store today is just beautiful.”

Experts noted that the law gives the executive branch the authority to deem a country a “foreign adversary” and that in doing so it can choose to ban an app that comes from that country. In this case, China is already deemed a “foreign adversary” in the TikTok ban, and therefore the executive branch could theoretically decide that other apps from China must be banned.