With TikTok U.S. Ban Looming, Users Flock to Red Note — Another Chinese-Owned App

variety.com:

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor TikTok could be outlawed in the U.S. as soon as Jan. 19 over concerns about its Chinese ownership, unless it gets a reprieve from the Supreme Court or if Beijing-based parent company, ByteDance, complies with a federal law forcing it to sell its stake in the app.

With that sword dangling over TikTok’s head, thousands of the app’s American users have been downloading a potential alternative: Xiaohongshu, also called “Red Note,” a social app that lets users share content in a variety of formats including photos, text, videos and livestreaming.

The kicker? Red Note is owned by a Chinese-based company, Xingin Information Technology (Shanghai) — and many TikTok “refugees” have been delighting in the irony that the U.S.’s potential ban of one Chinese app over national security fears is driving the adoption of another one.

Over the past two days, Xiaohongshu has been the No. 1 downloaded free app on Apple’s App Store in the U.S. During that period, more than 700,000 new users joined Red Note, per a Reuters report.