What Have We Learned about the Communist Party? The United States is Not Going to Rejoin China, but It Is Going to Let It Go
“Did the U.S. government forget our founding principles? They have over 200,000 followers and posted on TikTok saying we are a nation built on spite. “We’re giving our information directly to the Chinese government now. The communists just have our information directly because of … what you did.”
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.
There’s a 216% increase in the number of people learning mandarin in the US compared to last year, according to the language learning app.
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.
There are 547 derogatory nicknames for Chinese leader XI JIERINA and various other events of the Chinese Communist Party such as student suicides and labor strikes.
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.
“Welcome, but do not say anything about LGBTQ+. Thank you! Newsweek reported on an example where a user wrote in Beijing. The Advocate reported that one woman who was banned for wearing a low-cut top in one video and talking about “trans plight” in another, was from the United States.
The New York Times reported that in a group chat this week viewed more than 30,000 times, participants shared tips on how to avoid being banned from the platform, for bringing up politically sensitive topics.
What to Know About RedNote, the Chinese App that American Tik Tokkers are Flooding: A Case Study on the Xiaohongshu Little Red Book
RedNote could potentially be banned from doing business in the United States if it was forced to do so under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Applications Act. A US official has confirmed that, saying it “appears to be the kind of app that the statute would apply to.”
It said that mobile downloads of the app increased in the US over the weekend, and are up compared to the same period last year.
At the beginning of this week, RedNote surged to the top of the “free apps” chart on Apple’s app store as well as seeing a huge spike in search queries and social media posts. 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.
Over the years it grew steadily and took on the name Xiaohongshu, which translates to “Little Red Book.” A collection of quotations is what that phrase traditionally refers to.
It launched in 2013, originally named “Hong Kong Shopping Guide,” and Reuters reports that it aimed at Chinese tourists looking for local recommendations.
RedNote is different than most other apps. 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.
RedNote: The end of the Lemon8 controversy? What the US government can tell us about the TikTok app platform and how to stop dealing with them
One Chinese user, who identified himself as Abe, said in a now-viral post that it feels so special to be able to connect and communicate with each other like this. “This is such a real chance for us to get to know each other and maybe create something amazing together … I really, really hope you will stay because you are not just welcome here.
Let’s assume a path for RedNote based on all of this. Due to its small American base, it appears that it gained 3 million users in one day, compared to 170 million of its US users as of last year. Congress saw risks of mass data harvesting, covert propaganda, and other things in TikTok that may not affect a lot of people. The risks that may actually decide its fate are a little more complicated.
The law mentions TikTok by name as a national security threat, so that platform is basically cooked — the divest-or-ban deadline was set in motion once the law was signed, bypassing much of the process above. The company and US government have not commented on Lemon8 yet, but will likely face scrutiny as they are covered by the law. But the president has significantly more leeway in deciding the fate of other apps.
If a company is legal, the buck will go to the president, who can initiate a procedure to stop doing business with them. This requires a series of steps: