Americans are bracing for the imminent ban of TikTok, which has been described variously as “digital fentanyl” by former vice president Mike Pence, “the teenage girl dancing app” by people who have never deigned to open it, and a “security threat” by US lawmakers. For many, the app’s impending ban feels like government overreach, prompting some users to migrate to RedNote, a Chinese app also known as Xiaohongshu. Pitched as “Chinese Instagram”, RedNote is at first glance a combination of fashion, recipes, restaurant reviews, and photos of people’s pets. Outside China, its user base has until now been modest, consisting mostly of expats and foreigners learning the language. However, with TikTok’s future in question, Americans are now flocking to RedNote as an act of protest.
This migration is fuelled by a mix of frustration, pragmatism, and rebellion. Many users see their move as a direct response to perceived censorship by the US government, embracing RedNote as a symbolic rejection of Washington’s policies. Ironically, these users seem to overlook that RedNote could face similar scrutiny if it gains significant traction in the United States, given the platform’s ties to China. The ban only starts with TikTok.
The shift to RedNote has also revealed deeper tensions among Americans. What began as a search for a TikTok alternative has evolved into a phenomenon laced with anti-American sentiment. Posts criticising US governance and lionising Beijing are increasingly common, while China’s modern infrastructure and urban development are juxtaposed with perceived American stagnation.
In response to RedNote posts asking for national stereotypes, Chinese users have commented that Americans are less free than they believe, are ruled by oligarchs, and live in a country run like a corporation. While there is some truth to these criticisms, the context in which they are shared raises important questions. For some Americans on RedNote, these dialogues have reinforced a newfound admiration for China, which in turn deepens their dissatisfaction with the United States. Naturally, the irony is lost on almost everyone.
Former Washington Post columnist Taylor Lorenz exemplified this dynamic with her purposely provocative “long live China!” tweet. While it’s obvious she was baiting conservative media outlets, her comment underscored the impulsive and shallow nature of much of this discourse. Criticising America or praising China is not inherently wrong, but the loudest voices in these conversations often lack the context to engage meaningfully. For instance, it’s fair to target Meta for its data collection and censorship, but what makes the Chinese regulatory system less culpable in these areas? And if the argument is that some level of control or censorship is justified, where do we draw the line between China’s actions and those of companies like Meta?
RedNote’s new users broadly appear indifferent to censorship, despite the issue’s centrality to the TikTok debate. While the extent of RedNote’s moderation policies remains unclear, China clearly does limit freedom of expression: 10 people have been arrested since June for publishing erotic fan fiction, for instance. Chinese users warn of what you can and can’t say — no politics, please — yet these concerns are secondary to those more focused on defying the US government.
The migration to RedNote reflects a broader cultural shift. Many Americans are increasingly disillusioned with their institutions and are eager to explore other options, even if those alternatives come with their own set of challenges. RedNote provides a compelling case study in how frustration and rebellion can drive people toward platforms or ideologies they might not fully understand.
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Subscribe“In response to RedNote posts asking for national stereotypes, Chinese users have commented that Americans are less free than they believe, are ruled by oligarchs, and live in a country run like a corporation. While there is some truth to these criticisms,”
Interestingly, this is a crucial juxtaposition with China, where the government officially rules, but oligarchs operate just beneath them in the hierarchy (they would be eliminated if they pull what they do in US). Over time, the Chinese realized they were trapped—just as Americans may now be realizing. However, China eventually reached the conclusion that oligarchs can only rule if they also contribute to building the country—something sorely lacking in the U.S. So either US oligarchs take a heed or their end for power is near!
Another update: Red Book has started moderating by IP, both for censorship and language differences. As a result, many Chinese expats can no longer access the platform.
Every action has unintended consequences—sometimes painfully fascinating ones!
So Americans are flocking to an app run from the PRC (btw the Chinese characters literally mean Little Red Book – make of that what you may) as a rejection of what?
Of Meta no longer censoring (fact-checking) content on behalf of the government?
Because the American bit of TikTok might be required to be sold to someone more accountable to US government than the mothership in the PRC is?
Maybe I’m getting old, but I just don’t see what possible point they’re making.
Is the author trolling for China?
And this proves what exactly? Quite a lot of people carried pictures of Chairman Mao or put those posters of Che Guevera on their walls back in the 60’s to make basically the same point, but the point didn’t really stick, and most of them quietly dropped all that nonsense when they got real jobs and had kids and accumulated some life experience. I doubt most of them would admit they did those things today, if they actually remember. Then as now they moaned about how unfair America was and how much more humane the Chinese regime was and how socialism was more progressive and fair and how the Chinese and the Soviets were really more free because they were ‘liberated’ from the struggle between rich and poor and they were all living together as equals and working together to build a better future. That made no sense then when millions of Chinese people were dying as a result of Mao’s insane policies, and it makes no sense now that there are concentration camps where people are imprisoned at this very moment by the Chinese government for no reason other than their religion and race. Anyone that cares to do a few minutes of research and reading can see pictures of the camps on Google Earth, or read some of the harrowing accounts of real people who escaped the country.
There’s nothing wrong with criticizing American government and society. I would say there’s nothing more American than criticizing the government and holding elected officials accountable for their choices and policies. To the extent that rich oligarchs have become entangled with government and tilted the board in their favor, they have made themselves legitimate targets of social protest and government action. If you ask me, a reckoning is long overdue. Nevertheless, not all protests are equally wise or equally effective. The abolitionist movement, the civil rights movement, and even the Tea Party and the MAGA movement, all made tangible progress and legitimately altered the political and social direction of the country because they had direct, achievable goals, determined leaders, and a broad base of popular support behind them. The flower power movement went nowhere because it was mostly a facile attempt for young people to rebel against their parents without any serious political direction or much rational thought, as evidenced by the lack of awareness necessary to carry around pictures of a mass murderer such as Chairman Mao. The Tiktok/Rednote crowd isn’t quite that bad as they at least can say they’re just using a gadget that happens to be owned in part by a brutal regime that commits acts of genocide, not deliberately and purposefully advocating for a tyrant responsible for the deaths of millions, but the message they’re sending by doing so is on about the same level of juvenile stupidity. Complaining about the problems we have in America is fine. Challenging the oligarchy and advocating for different policies that make them more accountable to their fellow citizens is certainly long overdue. Asserting that we’d be better off under a totalitarian regime that monitors every communications, jails dissidents, and runs actual honest to gosh concentration camps is absurd, and it shouldn’t be taken seriously by any serious person. Cold War 2.0 is on, so it doesn’t surprise me we have started to see some of the same idiocy produced by the first one.
Another huge error by the USA in their frantic efforts to contain the Rise of China
And here’s the story of that futilely
Of such acts
1 Obama re configured US defence
Away from Europe to the Pacific
Result China knew full well what that truly meant and has now passed the point of no return in that in abundance clear that it’s now impossible for The US to defeat China by military means
2 . The US imposing tariffs and sanctions upon China
Result Chinese exports to US at 36 % declined by 0 .6 %
However if you dig into the reality
Chinese exports to the US are actually now 42 % by way of using others such as Mexico and Vietnam as a back door
3. The US prohibiting export of High end computing Chips
Result China now by massive efforts of its own has now almost caught up E .g In 2024 exports of Chinese chips globally increased by 38 %
And China quickly set about aiding
Entrepreneurs in AI , Computing and associated engineering/ manufacturing
Now yielding substantially new discoveries and huge progress
4. The US and West seizing Russian Assets and giving Interest gained to Ukraine in the form of loans ( debt trap )
Result
Led to rapid expansion of BRI and BRICS which now poses a real threat to the Hegomony of the $ and the IMF
5 The US passing into its own Laws
And against Existing International
Treaties that China no longer a developing Nation
Result
The fight against global warming seriously impacted and the clamour of other developing Nations to join BRI , BRICS and side with China
Now let’s see how the Ban on Tik Tok goes
But early on the Omens are NOT good
All this can but only speed up the terminal decline of the US, Western
and Neo Liberal Capitalism
These policies are akin to Iraq and Afghanistan and you all know how those have ended up