TikTok users are racing to download a new app, RedNote, ahead of the proposed US TikTok ban.
Time is ticking if one of our favorite social media platforms is to be saved, as the US plans on banning the video app as soon as Sunday (January 19) this week.
In April last year, the US Congress passed a bipartisan bill to prohibit TikTok unless it secures a new owner.
Federal officials argued the platform poses a ‘national security threat’ on an ‘immense depth’ due to its supposed links with China.
It is feared US users’ data could be being shared unlawfully with the Communist government.
However, TikTok and its parent company, ByteDance, refute the allegations and are in the midst of challenging the rule in the Supreme Court by highlighting its First Amendment Rights.
But justices threw out the argument on Friday and appeared to side more favorably with the US government.
Justice Elena Kagan said the law is only targeted at the foreign corporation, ‘which doesn’t have First Amendment rights’, while Chief Justice John Roberts added: “They’re not saying TikTok has to stop. They’re saying the Chinese have to stop controlling TikTok’, reports The Independent.”
President-elect Donald Trump, who will take office in a matter of days on January 20, tried to ban TikTok in 2020, but has since sought to delay it.
Creators, businesses, influencers, and other users of the app have argued that the ban would decimate the lucrative creator economy that depends on it.
But frantic with worry about a TikTok-less future, thousands of US users have stumbled across what could be suitable alternatives if, or rather when, the dreaded dawn comes.
A free Chinese short-form video app called Xiaohongshu, or RedNote in English, has shot to the top of the Apple App store as of Monday, followed by Lemon8, also owned by TikTok and ByteDance, as users look to migrate across.
The app functions as a cross between Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest, and has more than 300 million monthly active users, according to The Independent, which still falls below the figures seen on TikTok.
RedNote, based in Shanghai, was founded in 2013 and was valued at $17 billion after raising funds from Chinese investors, with now more than $900 million raised in funding and 2,000 employees, reports CNBC.
And many TikTokers appear to be a fan of the alternative already.
One Georgian TikToker who goes by the username allieusyaps said: “They’re trying to ban TikTok and that’s ok”, before explaining to his 200,000 followers that ‘we on that RedNote baby’.
“Look, I might not have a job in the next week”, he continued, “but we about to learn Mandarin baby!
“RedNote is already lit. I ain’t never s*** like that. The content they got over there is really different.
“So yeah, the great migration is here.”
Another TikToker, itsjustheavita, said the alternative could be even better for influencers as ‘Chinese brands have more money than American brands’.
“Let’s get our bag y’all. To the Red Note app it is. Goodbye”, she added.
