China scores victory over US in TikTok war
China has scored a propaganda coup against the U.S, says Beijing media, after Chinese app RedNote was inundated by half a million American users this week, ahead of the TikTok ban.
Newsweek reached out to Xiaohongshu (RedNote) and the Chinese Foreign Ministry via a general contact email with a request for comment.
Why It Matters
TikTok is set to be banned on Sunday unless its Chinese parent company, ByteDance, divests from the platform as mandated by a bill passed by Congress last April. Lawmakers have cited security risks to users, pointing out Chinese companies are required by law to hand over data to their government upon request.
The ban will affect about 170 million American users, including 2 million who rely on the Tiktok for income. With the Chinese version of the app—Douyin—unavailable for download in the U.S., many creators have turned to another Chinese app known as RedNote (Xiaohongshu—literally “Little Red Book” in China), driving it to the No. 1 spots on both the Apple and Google stores this week.
What To Know
The influx of American self-described “TikTok refugees” have voiced frustration, some expressing interest in learning Chinese and expanding their following on RedNote. Their arrival on the app has been met with a mix of curiosity, playful requests for cat photos, and appeals for Chinese-language subtitles.
Cheng Xin/Getty Images
“The harm caused by Washington’s bias in its China policy is real, but so too is the healing power of increased people-to-people exchanges,” Chinese state-run media outlet the Global Times wrote Thursday in an editorial touting RedNote as bridge between the American and Chinese peoples.
The article took aim at Biden administration policies aimed at curbing China’s access to advanced chips and technologies Washington fears will fuel the People’s Liberation Army’s rapid expansion.
The piece argues greater exposure to Chinese netizens on the app would erode support for such policies. “Demonizing China’s development and using it as a scapegoat for Washington’s ineffective governance is a narrative that is increasingly losing its ability to deceive in light of evident truths.”
Global Times parent company and Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece the People’s Daily also weighed in: “It is better to say they are global villagers than “TikTok refuges”; rather than “wandering,” it is better to say they have found a “new home.”
While the newcomers have so far been able to explore RedNote, some have already experienced China’s vigilant censors after posting about politically sensitive topics. Meanwhile, China’s “Great Firewall” blocks a number of popular U.S.-based platforms—including Facebook, YouTube, and X—leaving them accessible only by through a virtual personal network.
What People Are Saying
Liu Pengyu, Chinese Embassy spokesperson told Newsweek Wednesday: “China believes that it is an individual’s choice which social media to use. As a matter of principle, China always supports and encourages people-to-people exchanges with other countries to enhance people-to-people bond.”
Sean King, Asia scholar and senior vice president of New York-based consultancy Park Strategies:
“President Trump was right the first time when he tried banning TikTok. He should now not reverse himself and oppose the app’s sale or shutdown. It’s not only TikTok’s data collection threat but all its algorithms that spew out countless videos sympathetic to Hamas and the like. The corrosive, toxic version of TikTok that we see in the U.S. is not even allowed within mainland China, so why should we permit it here?”
Yaqiu Wang, China research director at Freedom House, wrote on X (formerly Twitter: “The frustration over a TikTok ban is understandable, but to protest such “censorship” by going to the most censored internet in the world only shows the total lack of perspective of some Americans. The amount of people left and right who embrace authoritarianism is disheartening.”
What’s Next?
The Supreme Court on Friday unanimously upheld the law ordering ByteDance to sell its wildly popular app, making TikTok’s removal from app stores by Sunday all but certain. President-elect Donald Trump has voiced support for the app, however, last month filing an amicus brief with the Supreme Court to request an extension of the deadline.
