HONG KONG (AP) 鈥 As the threat of a TikTok ban looms, U.S. TikTok users are flocking to the Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu 鈥 making it the top downloaded app in the U.S.
Some of the 鈥淭ikTok refugees,鈥 as they call themselves, say the , a Chinese app, is being chosen in protest of the TikTok ban.
The U.S. Supreme Court is due to rule on a law that stipulates TikTok from its Chinese parent company ByteDance by Jan. 19 or face a ban in the U.S. over national security concerns.
After the justices seemed inclined to let the law stand, masses of TikTok users began creating accounts on Xiaohongshu, including hashtags such as #tiktokrefugee or #tiktok to their posts. Since Monday, Xiaohongshu has become the in the U.S.
Xiaohongshu, which in English means 鈥淟ittle Red Book鈥 is a Chinese social media app that combines e-commerce, short video and posting functions.
The app has gained traction in China and other regions and countries with a Chinese diaspora such as Malaysia and Taiwan in recent years, racking up 300 million monthly active users, a majority of whom are young women who use it as a de-facto search engine for product, travel and restaurant recommendations, as well as makeup and skincare tutorials.
The #tiktokrefugee topic has racked up over 160,000 posts on Xiaohongshu, many of which are videos of American users introducing themselves and asking for tips on how to navigate the app, which they are calling 鈥淩edNote鈥.
Xiaohongshu did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
Alexis Garman is a 21-year-old TikTok user in Oklahoma with nearly 20,000 followers. She joined Xiaohongshu on Tuesday after seeing others do the same. Garman said she is not particularly concerned about data privacy.
鈥淲hat I experienced on (Xiaohongshu) so far has been really great and inviting,鈥 said Garman, who has left two posts on the platform.
鈥淚 like your makeup,鈥 a Xiaohongshu user from Beijing comments one of her posts, and Garman thanks them in a reply. A user from the southwestern province of Sichuan commented 鈥淚 am your Chinese spy 鈥 please surrender your personal information or the photographs of your cat (or dog).鈥
鈥淭ikTok possibly getting banned doesn鈥檛 just take away an app, it takes away jobs, friends and community,鈥 Garman said. 鈥淧ersonally, the friends and bond I have with my followers will now be gone.鈥
Other American users who have joined Xiaohongshu have been outspoken about joining the app in protest of the possible TikTok ban.
An American user with the handle Definitelynotchippy made a video addressed to the Chinese users of Xiaohongshu, explaining why Americans are downloading the app.
鈥淭he reason that our government is telling us that they are banning TikTok is because they鈥檙e insisting that itsa国际传媒 owned by you guys, the Chinese people, government, whatever,鈥 she said. 鈥淎nd they鈥檙e trying to make us think that you guys are bad.鈥
鈥淎 lot of us are smarter than that though so we decided to piss off our government and download an actual Chinese app,鈥 she said. 鈥淲e call that trolling 鈥 in short we鈥檙e here to spite our government and to learn about China and hang out with you guys.鈥
Chinese users on Xiaohongshu have so far welcomed American users, with some offering to teach them Chinese. Others have offered tips on navigating the Chinese internet, warning the new users not to mention or discuss anything considered politically sensitive as they may get censored. In some cases, Chinese students have asked the Americans for help with their English homework.
Like most apps and internet services in China, Xiaohongshu is subject to censorship. Platforms typically enforce censorship by deleting or shadowbanning content that Beijing deems politically sensitive. Large Western platforms, such as Google and Facebook, are blocked in China.
Though Xiaohongshu has seen an influx of users, it is not clear if the app could replace TikTok, which has created an ecosystem that . Before TikTok was under threat, the overwhelming majority of Xiaohongshu's users were Chinese, and the app, which lacks translation features, is not optimized for an international user base.
Even though U.S.-China tensions remain high over and , many Chinese and American Xiaohongshu users have pursued friendly cultural exchanges on the app. Those interactions range from live chat rooms to comments on posts.
A TikTok refugee who goes by the name Amanda posted a video on how happy she was in finding the Xiaohongshu app, saying that Chinese users have been welcoming. Under her post, a Chinese user comments: 鈥淲e are not enemy, we are human beings (living) in one world!鈥
鈥淲e also never 鈥 had a chance to communicate with you foreign guys directly sharing the same app or platform, so the (feeling is) mutual since you come on this app,鈥 another says.
In a comment posted in Chinese, Amanda, the TikTok 鈥渞efugee鈥 said she would work on posting captions and subtitles in Chinese in the future.
鈥淚 am so happy to talk to Chinese people and learn about your culture and experiences,鈥 she said.