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What is RedNote, the Chinese app people are joining ahead of TikTok ban?

FILE - A man carries a Free TikTok sign in front of the courthouse where the hush-money trial of Donald Trump was underway on April 15, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File) (Ted Shaffrey, Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

As TikTok is expected to be banned this weekend, many users of the app are migrating to another social media platform—RedNote.

What is RedNote?

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RedNote—also known as Xiaohongshu, which translates to “little red book”— is one of China’s fastest-growing social platforms and has similarities with TikTok.

Although the layout is similar to how Pinterest’s homepage appears, the content shown on the app is very similar to TikTok, from memes to skits to fashion inspiration posts. One review in Apple’s App Store called RedNote, “Like Pinterest and Instagram but better.”

Americans moving to RedNote are labeling themselves as “TikTok Refugees” to users on the app, who are primarily Chinese. “TikTok Refugee” became a trending hashtag on TikTok and RedNote a week before TikTok is expected to be banned in the United States.

RedNote is available for free in U.S. app stores.

TikTok ban in the United States

TikTok is set to be officially banned in the United States on Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, unless its China-based parent company sells it.

The federal law to pass the ban was signed by President Joe Biden in April 2024. The bill allowed TikTok’s parent company to sell the platform within 270 days. Failure to do so will lead to the app being banned in the United States.

The ban will cause TikTok to vanish from U.S. app stores on Jan. 19, 2025. This doesn’t mean it will disappear from your phone if you already have the app installed. The ban means new users will not be able to download it.

TikTok will also no longer be able to maintain the app for U.S. users once it’s banned, such as fixing any bugs or routinely updating it. This means the app will eventually become unusable.


About the Author
Samantha Sayles headshot

Samantha Sayles is an Oakland University alumna who’s been writing Michigan news since 2022. Before joining the ClickOnDetroit team, she wrote stories for WILX in Lansing and WEYI in Flint.