Image by inmediahk via Flickr. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.
Tens of thousands of TikTokers flocked to Xiaohongshu, aka Rednote, a popular Instagram-like Chinese social media platform, days before the US government’s “ban or sell” ultimatum to TikTok takes effect on January 19, 2025.
The decree, signed by the Biden administration in April 2024, requires TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell its US business to a non-Chinese company, or it will be banned, citing national security concerns. Although ByteDance appealed to the US Supreme Court, arguing that the ban is against freedom of speech and deemed unconstitutional, the court expressed its preference to uphold the ban at a hearing on January 10, 2025.
TikTok has 170 million users in the US, which is equivalent to half of the American population. The Biden administration expressed worries that Beijing would use the app to steal users’ data, spread propaganda and manipulate public opinion in the US as Chinese employees from ByteDance revealed that they could access TikTok users’ data from mainland China.
Ice-breaking exchanges
Ahead of the effective day of the ban and the Supreme Court’s ruling, ByteDance encourages Tiktokers to migrate to Lemon8, an overseas version of Xiaohongshu developed by ByteDance for sharing lifestyle content, as TikTok’s Chinese version, Douyin, can only be downloaded via Chinese app stores and the platform has to follow mainland Chinese law.
However, many decided to flock directly to Shanghai-based Xiaohongshu to protest against the US government’s decree by willingly submitting their private data to a Chinese app. They call themselves “TikTok refugees.” The mass action pushed Xiaohongshu to the top of the Apple App Store’s download ranking list.
Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, has hit #1 on the US App Store following news of a possible TikTok ban on January 19th. pic.twitter.com/CwIXgtPEfO
— Pop Base (@PopBase) January 13, 2025
Chinese Xiaohongshu’s users are stunned by the sudden influx of thousands of US TikTokers to the platform, but they welcome the newcomers warm-heartedly.
The friendly acts of sharing cat photos and jokes and helping out with each other’s homework break the ice:
After a large number of #Tiktokrefugees fleeing to Xiaohongshu/ RedNote, Xiaohongshu became a homework helper for students from China and America😆Homework makes us a big study team! #pandaeyes pic.twitter.com/SbIEnKbvIx
— Pandaeyes (@Pandaeyes1111) January 14, 2025
The new arrivals are eager to tell their Chinese counterparts the reason behind their migration to Xiaohongshu. Here is TikTok refugee @Lyysse's explanation:
Screenshot of Xiaohongshu. Fair use.
Then, they start asking questions such as “To my new Chinese friends, how do you really feel about Americans?” or “Can you recommend a Chinese movie to me?” or “What Video games do you all play?”
Self-censored exchanges
However, due to the platform’s censorship practices, Chinese users have avoided making negative comments about China in their interaction with foreigners, as pointed out by @christinelu on X (formerly Twitter)
Here’s the “note violation” page it takes you to and what it says when translated.
Notice how the art I shared by a famous artist is not viewable.
If this your idea of cross cultural exchange then all good but just know that everyone engaging with you is self-censoring. pic.twitter.com/tEfCJp0GHO
— 🖤 Christine (@christinelu) January 15, 2025
Under mainland Chinese regulations, online platforms operating in China must censor content critical of the Chinese authorities and at odds with the Chinese Communist Party’s core values. @dispropaganda makes a list of topics that can lead to the suspension of user accounts on Xiaohungshu.
*join REDnote*
*start posting*-“Taiwan is a country”
-“Free Tibet”
-“Covid came from China”
-“Uyghur concentration camps”
-“Tiananmen square massacre”
-“Mao starved 45 million Chinese” pic.twitter.com/tZ9ynDrIJe— Dispropaganda (@Dispropoganda) January 15, 2025
China Digital Times has tracked Xiaohongshu's censorship practices for years:
From 2022: How Xiaohongshu Censors “Sudden Incidents”
— China Digital Times (@chinadigitaltimes.net) January 16, 2025 at 3:35 AM
For US TikTokers, flocking to Xiaohongshu is an act of resistance. However, some Chinese overseas dissidents find the action belittles the suffering of the oppressed. Rei Xia, an exiled Chinese activist from the White Paper Protests, expresses her frustration on X:
It’s both sad and traumatizing to see that most Americans have thrown their first-world trouble over the real pain and suffering of people under another regime, the Chinese Communist Party, ridiculously, on the very issue of ‘Censorship’. […]
The same complaint that brings you to RedNote have brought countless Chinese to jail.
And the very app #RedNote you are using now is part of the state machine that white-washes the Uyghur, Tibet and Hong Kong issue, as well as silencing the entire voices of political prisoners, scholars, civil journalists, filmmakers, LGBTQ and feminists, and banning any mention of Tiananmen Massacre, Ukraine or even 3-year covid lockdown.
A test for mainland Chinese authorities
Meanwhile, mainland Chinese authorities have taken the opportunity to criticize the US government's hypocrisy. For example, the Chinese state-funded China Global Television Network (CGTN) mocks:
TikTok refugees: We don't have “home” anymore #TikTokRefugee #TikTok #CGTNOpinion #Cartoon pic.twitter.com/Wm4c47SEBF
— CGTN (@CGTNOfficial) January 16, 2025
As the incident is depicted as a victory of China's soft power, there is a potential for the Chinese app to extend its reach to the world under Chinese rules and regulations. Hence, Xiaohongshu's tech team is developing new translation tools to facilitate exchanges, and its administrators are educating newcomers to be “respectful” of the platform's community code and Chinese law.
Yet, even if US TikTokers are willing to self-censor by avoiding political topics, many doubt if the Chinese authorities would allow foreign users to take root in China’s cyberspace:
As Americans flood Xiaohongshu, we're seeing a lot more direct online interaction between US and PRC citizens.
But the PRC has not always welcomed that, which is partly why it has banned foreign social media.
So Xiaohongshu's recent success is also a test for PRC authorities.
— Rush Doshi (@RushDoshi) January 15, 2025
Reportedly, Xiaohungshu’s operator is hiring new English content moderators to beef up the platform’s censorship. Even if the Chinese authorities do not ban international IPs from visiting the app, the tightening of censorship will likely drive many away. If US TikTok content creators cannot find ways to gain revenue from the Chinese platform, the exchange will likely be short-lived.
