The TikTok ban is expected to come into force on Sunday, and the Supreme Court’s ruling on the controversial law is expected any hour now. As a result, many of the hundreds of millions of Americans who use and rely on the app for news, public discourse, collective action, and their livelihoods have been scrambling to find a new home.
Many have found it on Xiaohongshu, aka RedNote, another app owned by a Chinese company. RedNote has surged to become the most downloaded app in the Apple and Google app stores over the past several days.
The app, which ByteDance does not own, is a bit like TikTok, Pinterest, and Instagram rolled into one. American TikTok users who have flocked to it have become known as “TikTok refugees” on the platform.
‘TikTok refugees’ open dialog with Chinese citizens
Many TikTok refugees say their migration to RedNote began as a middle finger to U.S. lawmakers, who claimed TikTok was a threat to Americans’ privacy. Facing the loss of TikTok—the app that has become America’s preeminent digital town square over the past several years—these new RedNote users say they would rather willingly give their data to an app run by a Chinese company than go back to Meta-owned apps like Facebook and Instagram.
But TikTok refugees are also finding their migration has a few added benefits. First, they say they are being welcomed with open arms on the platform by its Chinese users, resulting in the first time that many Americans have had any open dialogue and exchange of ideas with Chinese citizens.
American and Chinese users are discussing the differences between their two countries in many aspects of life, including healthcare, the cost of groceries, access to affordable housing, and technology.
Second, they are also using their experience with RedNote to leave reviews about it in Apple’s and Google’s app stores—but with a focus on criticizing the U.S. government and life in America, rather than reviewing the app itself.
Using RedNote reviews to criticize the U.S.
RedNote currently has over 170,000 reviews on the Apple App Store. The overwhelming majority of those reviews are 5-star ratings, giving the app a cumulative, and rare, 4.9-star overall rating.
Before this week, the majority of those reviews were from Chinese users (most of the RedNote app is written in Chinese and has not been translated into English, leading to a number of Americans wanting to learn the language).
But starting this week, American TikTok refugees have flooded the app store with reviews of their own. And while many American reviewers have praised the app in its own right, others are taking the opportunity to criticize the U.S. government, U.S. social media companies, and American life in their reviews.
For instance, some Americans on RedNote have been shocked to learn that Chinese citizens don’t have to pay for ambulance rides and have access to free universal healthcare.
“Welcoming us third world refugees into your safe space is an amazing gift,” Apple App Store user Thegirlwiththecattattoo wrote in their review of the RedNote app. “In America we have no healthcare and can barely afford groceries. The kind netizens of China have showed us that this does not have to be the way.”
App Store user Lovelylove3 had similar criticisms after noting that their RedNote experience left them unable to wait to learn Mandarin. “But US Government . . . why do the Chinese have a better life than we do?! They can afford groceries and have universal healthcare. Your propaganda against China has failed.”
A frequent topic of discussion on RedNote between American and Chinese users is the affordable cost of groceries in China versus their comparable cost in America.
RedNote reviews have also taken aim at America’s social media giants, which many TikTok refugees see as being no worse at handling their privacy than TikTok.
“It’s not meta or X,” App Store user Loryn007 wrote in a RedNote review. “What else do you need to know?”
Another user, Jabeschopin, said they decided to try RedNote since TikTok was getting banned: “sorry sucky zuck! I will not be giving my data to Meta.”
‘We’d rather be Chinese’
However, the most strongly worded RedNote “reviews” are directed at the U.S. government.
“dear us government, i am actively giving china my data because i HATE meta, zuckerburg, and us censorship,” App Store user girlsoconfusing222 wrote. “‘land of the free’ until people begin to gain class consciousness and real news using a social media app that isn’t american (tiktok).”
App Store user kp12 said the use of RedNote and the resulting interactions with its Chinese users has allowed for the dismantling of “the negative Chinese propaganda that has been shoved down our throats since birth,” adding that America should “do better.”
But comments like those from App Store user ZoeZoeB were even more scathing. “So. The U.S is turning to a literal oppressive oligarchy crushing people in every way,” the user wrote. “We don’t have a say and we don’t have rights and healthcare insurance companies and in fact all companies steal from us front and back. We’re tired. We’d rather be Chinese.”
Finally, many users left reviews to joke about the allegations that TikTok was being used to spy on everyday Americans. “Happy to be reunited with my Chinese spy again!” wrote App Store user LadySolarPunk in their RedNote review.
As of the time of this writing, RedNote remains the No. 1 app in the United States in Apple and Google app stores—and it is quickly ascending the charts in other countries like Australia and the U.K. Reuters reports that RedNote gained nearly three million U.S. users in a single day this week.
