Will RedNote be banned in the US?
The U.S. Information Economy is Sufficient: Why We Are Trying to Make Sense of China’s Superpowers, or Why We Shouldn’t
The founding principles of the U.S. government are being questioned. “We are a nation that is built on spite,” the user posted on TikTok, with over 200,000 followers. “We’re giving our information directly to the Chinese government now. The communists just have our information directly because of … what you did.”
The Supreme Court appears unlikely to block a law that requires TikTok to either be divested from its China-based parent company, ByteDance, or shut down in the U.S. on Jan. 19. The law stems from concerns about the Chinese government accessing Americans’ data.
The amount of people learning Mandarin in the U.S. increased by 216% last year, according to the language learning app.
Plus, since most of the app’s content is in Mandarin, subtitles are suddenly rampant — as are posts from Americans who want to learn the language, including by exchanging translations of popular slang phrases with Chinese commenters.
They include some 556 derogatory nicknames for Chinese leader, as well as discussion of incidents such as labor strikes, discrimination, student suicides and criticism of the Chinese Communist Party.
While RedNote — like all social media apps in China — is subject to government censorship, many users are cheering the opportunity for cross-cultural exchange, especially given the tense relationship between the U.S. and Chinese governments and the fact that major platforms like Google and Facebook are blocked in China.
“Welcome, but do not say anything about LGBTQ+. Thank you!” wrote a user in Beijing, in one example reported by Newsweek. The Advocate reported that some American users have had their content removed or accounts suspended, including one woman who was banned for wearing a low-cut top in one video and mentioning “trans plight” in another.
The New York Times reported that in a group chat this week, participants discussed censoring and shared tips on how to avoid getting banned from the platform for bringing up politically sensitive topics.
What to Know About RedNote, The Chinese App That American Tik Tokkers Are Flooding: Why Americans Are Flumming Chinese Tablets?
That’s got many of the viral video app’s 170 million U.S.-based users preemptively looking for somewhere else to go. And RedNote seems to be the platform of choice.
It says U.S. mobile downloads of the app increased more than 20 times over the seven-day period beginning Jan. 8, compared to the previous week, and are up more than 30 times compared to the same period last year.
RedNote boomed among younger consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic and is now valued at $17 billion. It currently boasts 300 million monthly active users, 79% of whom are women, according to TechCrunch.
Over the years it grew steadily and took on the name Xiaohongshu, which translates to “Little Red Book.” The quotation refers to a collection of quotes from Mao.
It was renamed “Hong Kong Shopping Guide” in the beginning because it was for Chinese tourists looking for local recommendations.
RedNote is a different app altogether. It’s an alternative to the popular photo-sharing app, with a similar layout, and a focus on travel, makeup, fashion and shopping.
RedNote: a social platform to challenge the president-elect Donald Trump’s antitrust laws and make the Silicon Valley oligarchy mad
“For so long we really haven’t been able to connect or talk with each other like this, but now we finally can, and it feels so special,” one Chinese user, who identified himself as Abe, said in a now-viral post. This is a really great chance for us to get to know one another, and maybe create something amazing together. I really hope you’ll stay, you’re not just welcome here.
But pragmatically, this is where we exit the realm of policy and enter the world of politics. The question isn’t really how RedNote operates; it’s whether RedNote makes President-elect Donald Trump or the Silicon Valley oligarchy mad.
The platform is cooked because the law mentions TikTok as a national security threat, so the deadline for public opinion to say “no” to the platform was bypassed after the law was signed. The law says any subsidiary of ByteDance is also covered by the law, so while the company and US government have not yet commented on apps like its social network Lemon8, they’ll likely face scrutiny, too. The president has more power to decide on the fate of other apps.
If a company does not meet legal criteria, the buck goes to the president. This requires a number of steps.
