it boomed among young people during the Covid-19 pandemic.
As the clock ticks down on TikTok’s potentially final day in the United States, users have turned to a Chinese platform called RedNote.
On January 17, 2025, the Supreme Court upheld a law that requires TikTok to either be divested from its China-based parent company ByteDance or shut down in the US on January 19.
The law stems from concerns about the Chinese government accessing Americans’ data.
This has now seen a rise in popularity in RedNote downloads.
Xiaohongshu, or RedNote in English, is the top free app on the Apple App Store and functions like a mix between Instagram, TikTok and Pinterest.
Launched in 2013, the platform lets users post short videos, engage in live chats, call each other and even buy products.
Originally named ‘Hong Kong Shopping Guide’, it aimed at Chinese tourists looking for local recommendations.
It grew steadily but it boomed among young people during the Covid-19 pandemic.
RedNote currently boasts 300 million monthly active users, 79% of whom are women.
The app has quickly grown in popularity among Americans.
According to Sensor Tower, US mobile downloads of the app increased more than 20 times over a seven-day period beginning January 8.
Downloads are up more than 30 times compared to the same period in 2024.
Over a fifth of RedNote’s total app downloads so far in January have come from the US, compared to just 2% during the same period in 2024.
In April 2024, the US Congress passed a bipartisan bill to ban TikTok unless it finds a new owner.
Federal officials have argued the site is “a national-security threat of immense depth and scale” because of alleged links with China and concerns about US users’ data being shared unlawfully with the Communist government.
On January 17, Chief Justice John Roberts said:
“Congress doesn’t care about what’s on TikTok.
“They don’t care about the expression. That’s shown by the remedy. They’re not saying TikTok has to stop. They’re saying the Chinese have to stop controlling TikTok.”
Justice Elena Kagan added that the “law is only targeted at this foreign corporation, which doesn’t have First Amendment rights”.
Donald Trump has sought to delay the ban and seek a solution through, as his lawyer put in a brief “political means once he takes office”.
Trump tried to ban TikTok in 2020.
Some have argued that the ban would devastate the sprawling creator economy that depends on the platform.
University of Alabama assistant professor Jess Maddox said:
“A TikTok ban would be absolutely catastrophic for the creators and the small businesses who rely on it.
“I’ve spent my career talking to creators and influencers, they are resilient, they’ll pivot, but it will be a struggle in the meantime and take a hit to them financially.”