What to know about RedNote, the Chinese app that American TikTokkers are flooding

With the clock ticking on a potential TikTok ban in the U.S., scores of Americans are flocking to a surprising alternative: a popular Chinese social media platform called Xiaohongshu, or RedNote in English.

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.

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.

The start of this week saw a dramatic uptick in Google searches and social media posts about RedNote, as well as its surge to the top spot of the “free apps” chart on Apple’s app store. The market intelligence firm Sensor Tower told NPR that its data indicates RedNote is also the top-ranked social app on the Google Play store on Wednesday — a big jump from #162, where it stood this time last year.

A person close to RedNote told Reuters that more than 700,000 new users joined in just two days. The New York Times reported that more than 100,000 people joined a live group chat hosted by a user named TikTok Refugee Club on Tuesday.

Many of these American newcomers are calling themselves TikTok refugees, a term that’s proliferating across the app in hashtags, comment sections and live chats. And the app’s Chinese users appear to be welcoming them with open arms, asking for cat photos and help with their English homework.

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.

“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 such a real chance for us to get to know each other and maybe create something amazing together … You are not just welcome here, I really, really hope you will stay.”

The lifestyle app is China’s take on Instagram, favored by women

 The Chinese equivalent of TikTok is the ByteDance-owned platform Douyin.

RedNote is a different app altogether. It’s considered China’s answer to Instagram, with a layout similar to Pinterest (displaying multiple posts at the same time) and a focus on travel, makeup, fashion and shopping.

Users can post short videos, engage in live chats, call each other and even purchase products within the app.

It launched in 2013, originally named “Hong Kong Shopping Guide,” and Reuters reports that it aimed at Chinese tourists looking for local recommendations.

Over the years it grew steadily and took on the name Xiaohongshu, which translates to “Little Red Book.” That phrase traditionally refers to a collection of quotations from Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong.

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.

The app has caught on quickly among American audiences since last week, according to Sensor Tower.

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.

More than a fifth of RedNote’s total app downloads so far this month have come from the U.S., the firm says, compared to just 2% during the same period in 2024.

American users navigate language barriers and censorship 

RedNote’s new American users are confronting the potentially taboo topics of privacy and censorship head-on. Users — from both countries — are joking about finally meeting their “Chinese spies” and willingly handing over data (including the aforementioned “cat tax“).

The New York Times reports that in a group chat this week viewed more than 30,000 times, “participants discussed censorship and shared tips in the comments on how to avoid being banned from the platform for bringing up politically sensitive topics.”

“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.

In 2022, the China Digital Times — a California-based nonprofit that covers censorship in China — published a leaked trove of documents showing how the content moderation team at RedNote bans or limits posts about sensitive topics.

Those include some 546 derogatory nicknames for Chinese leader Xi Jinping, as well as discussion of events such as labor strikes, geographic discrimination, student suicides and criticism of the Chinese Communist Party.

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.

The irony that Americans are leaving TikTok for another Chinese-run app has not been lost on many users, some of whom see the move as an act of defiance against U.S. lawmakers’ efforts to ban it.

“Did the U.S. government forget our founding principles? We are a nation built on spite,” user @thesleepydm posted on TikTok, where they have 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.”