In January, 700,000 people downloaded a Chinese app called Xiaohongshu, or as it is colloquially known in English, RedNote. This wave of new users took the app completely by surprise, particularly as the majority of the users were English speakers, and the majority of the content on RedNote was in Mandarin.
The huge influx in downloads was the result of the impending TikTok ban. TikTok creators, desperate for somewhere to continue uploading their content (and furious at the U.S. government for the ban), decided to move to a Chinese app in response to the decision.
A digital cultural exchange
RedNote users have described it as something like a ‘digital cultural exchange’. Mandarin-speaking users welcomed the ‘TikTok refugees’, and started teaching them common Mandarin phrases to better understand the content. U.S. citizens and Chinese citizens asked each other direct questions about their country and their governments; ‘Do you really need to pay for an ambulance in the U.S., or is that just propaganda?’, and ‘What do you think of gay people?’.
For the English-speaking users, a code of appropriate behaviour developed amongst those uploading; don’t post anything about politics, faith or drugs, make sure your uploads have a description in Mandarin as well as English, and make sure you post pictures of your cat. This was requested by Chinese users, who maintained that they were happy to have friendly American users on their app, but they must pay the ‘cat tax’.
Privacy and data collection
The debate surrounding TikTok has centered around a question of data collection and privacy. If TikTok’s parent company ByteDance is subject to Chinese national security laws, and must share data on its users with the Chinese government when requested, putting the personal data of U.S. citizens at risk, then should this app be allowed in the U.S.?
The Supreme Court stated that it should not, and that to run in the U.S., the U.S. arm of TikTok needed to be sold. TikTok has consistently stated that they would not be selling the U.S. branch, and took the app down itself, a day before the ban.
In response, American TikTok users flooded RedNote, freely agreeing to the terms of use despite them being in Mandarin, and making jokes and memes with Chinese users about reconnecting with their ‘Chinese Spy’.
However, TikTok subsequently restored the app for U.S. users two days later, after receiving assurances from Donald Trump that he was extending the amount of time before this law came into effect. TikTok was back, and normal service quickly resumed, but the ban was only delayed, not cancelled.
Is TikTok safe?
Like all social media apps, TikTok collects a huge amount of personal data, and uses it to create targeted advertisements and share it with third-party partners, both of which generate income for the app. TikTok even features a dedicated e-commerce page, TikTok shop, where users can purchase the products they see.
Social media apps like Facebook, Instagram and X generate profit by collecting and using your personal data. With Chinese-owned platforms, there is the additional risk of government access, as well as everything else.
That being said, there are some ways you can protect your privacy and personal data. Reading terms of service and privacy policies lets you know what data is collected, and how it is used and shared, and where possible, limiting the permissions that apps request helps to restrict the amount of data social media apps have access to.
