RedNote: Chinese users react to US ‘TikTok refugees’

Chinese and American citizens have never been before connected thanks to a looming TikTok restrictions, where they exchange jokes and cartoons in what one person described as a “historic time.”

Red Note, or Xiaohongshu ( literally translated as Little Red Book ), a well-known Chinese social media app that doesn’t have the traditional computer network that separates China from the rest of the world, is where everything is happening.

It has been drawing self-professed US “TikTok refugees” seeking a new home on the internet – despite the fact that their own government is seeking a TikTok ban because of national security concerns.

In China and other parts of the world, Americans are now in direct contact with 300 million Mandarin speakers, while Beijing is gearing up for a turbulent Trump administration that might tension its ties to Washington.

The worry that China is using TikTok to traitor on Americans is at the center of the US restrictions.

Due to a Beijing law that requires local businesses to” support, help, and cooperate with the express knowledge work,” the application has been accused of releasing user data into the Chinese government. TikTok denies this has actually happened, or that it would arise.

However, some US users may not be worried about this because 700, 000 new people have signed up for RedNote in the last two days, making it the most popular free software in the US App store.

” The explanation that our government is telling us that they are banning TikTok is because they’re insisting that it’s owned by you men, the Taiwanese people, state, whatever”, said one new RedNote person, Definitelynotchippy.

He continues to describe why he is on Red Note, saying that “many of us are smarter than that, but we decided to insult our government by downloading an actual Chinese game.” We refer to it as teasing, but in essence we’re here to defame our government, know about China, and drop out with you people.

TikTok, although owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, is headquartered in Singapore and says it is run separately. In fact, China’s type of TikTok is another game called Douyin. One of the few social media apps available both in China and abroad is Red Note, a Chinese firm based in Shanghai.

So Washington’s concerns over TikTok may expand to RedNote as well.

Americans are now using the term” Chinese spies” to describe themselves, continuing a TikTok trend where people have been biding farewell to their supposedly “personal Chinese hacker” who has been surveilling them over the years.

RedNote is currently full of content about ex-TikTok customers looking for a replacement. One article says:” I’m looking for my Foreign spy. I miss you. Choose assist in locating him.

And Chinese people have answered:” I’m these”!

Chinese President Xi Jinping may not have been thinking about” strengthening people-to-people cultural exchanges” when he discussed” strengthening people-to-people cultural exchanges” between China and the US.

But that is truly happening as enthralled Chinese users welcome interested Americans into the app.

” You don’t even need to travel overseas, you can simply talk to foreigners around”, said one Chinese RedNote person in a movie that has received more than 6, 000 wants.

” But it’s actually stupid, no-one may include expected that we could match like this one day, openly talk like this”.

Food, streaming displays and work have been the most popular matters:” Is life in America related to how it looks on]the US TV show ] Friends”?

Another Chinese consumers demanded a “tax” for using the system- cat pictures.

” Cat revenue from California”, reads one post in answer. Here’s my providing: the shorthair is a son named Bob and the fabric is a woman named Marley.

Still others are requesting American assistance with their British research on the system.

One article reads:” Dear TikTok migrants, could you please tell me the answer to question 53? Is the answer T ( true ) or F ( false )”?

Help came fast: some 500 citizens have since answered.

According to reports, RedNote is employing English editors as a result of the flood of new American people.

And others are trying to cash in on Red Note’s new-found US stardom as well: language-learning app Duolingo put out a graph showing a 216 % jump in its user base, compared to this time last year.

Red Note’s rising reputation is not guaranteed to continue though.

For the same factors as TikTok: concerns that it might be used by China to spy on Americans, there is no justification to believe it didn’t suffer backlash.

Beijing’s ability to operate for unrestricted markets is unclear how long since its repressive regime has control over the internet.

The irony of the situation was flagged by one Chinese user, who posted:” Don’t we have a ( fire ) wall? How come but many foreigners you enter, when obviously I can’t keep”?

Generally, Chinese internet users have been unable to immediately connect with foreigners. Although people use VPNs to avoid these limitations, worldwide social media platforms like Twitter and Instagram and Google are blocked in China. Any subject matter that is considered objectionable to China’s state or ruling Communist Party is quickly censored.

It’s questionable how many RedNote is censored- it’s mostly used by younger and middle-aged people in China, where they share images and videos. It’s not as prevalent as Weibo, another Chinese apps, where concerns are frequently raised and discussed, leading to content frequently being removed.

However, a few brand-new RedNote users have already reported that their posts have broken rules, including one who inquired whether the software was “LGBT helpful.”

Another said they had asked” What]sic ] Chinese think about gay people”? and received a similar warning, that they had violated “public social order” rules.

And Taiwanese people keep reminding American on the game” not to mention sensitive matters, such as politics, religion and medicines”.

Another Chinese consumer furthermore advised them to adhere to the” One China policy,” which is the political foundation of the US-China marriage, which states that China recognizes and maintains official ties with China rather than Taiwan, the self-governing area Beijing claims to have as its own.

Beijing and the US state have not commented on RedNote thus far, and neither has the US government.

However, the Chinese state media is optimistic about it, with Global Times even interviewing a US users who stated she would enjoy speaking with Taiwanese people.

Red Note’s National death is anyone’s imagine- but for now, at least online, the US-China conflict is taking a break. Owing to rabbit images.