What is Red Note? The number of “refugees” from TikTok to the popular Chinese app before the ban is increasing

Imminent On TikTok In the US, this has led to a mass exodus of “refugee” content creators to alternative social media platforms – with Chairman Mao’s “Little Red Book” Chinese app appearing to be the most popular.

Shanghai-based Xiaohongshu, nicknamed RedNote in the US, jumped to the top of the App Store in the free apps section this week as social media users fled TikTok in anticipation of its closure on Sunday, January 20.

In just two days, more than 700,000 new users have joined Xiaohongshu, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

The report said that RedNote downloads in the United States rose more than 200% year over year this week, and 194% from the previous week, according to estimates from application data research firm Sensor Tower.

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But with this surge in popularity comes a stern warning from a top congressional hawk on China, who fears the app’s overt ties to China could put American users at risk.

“Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book was instrumental in China’s Communist Cultural Revolution that led to the tragic deaths of tens of millions of Chinese citizens. Today, a Chinese app with the same name wants to be the next TikTok — with Chinese control,” said the head of the Communist Party Select Committee. The Chinese, John Moolenaar, Republican of Michigan, told Fox Business.

What is Red Note?

The app store description describes Xiahongshu as “a lifestyle platform that inspires people to discover and connect with a range of diverse lifestyles.” The app claims to have over 300 million daily users and appears to work similarly Instagram or Pinterestwith users able to post text, images or short video content.

Founded as a venture capital startup in 2013, Xiahongshu is now widely viewed as China’s go-to search engine for recommendations on trending topics ranging from beauty, fashion, travel and food, according to Reuters.

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Users can participate in discussions, share each other’s posts, contact each other, and shop. The platform has recently had a big boost in live streaming sales.

There is no international version of the app, and it is in Mandarin. It is owned and operated by Xingyin Information Technology, a Chinese company. While users have the option to change the app’s language, most of the content is in Chinese.

Xiahongshu was co-founded by Miranda Zhou, its current president, and Charlwyn Mao, its CEO, in 2013 in Shanghai. Originally called the “Hong Kong Shopping Guide,” it was designed for Chinese tourists looking for recommendations outside the mainland, according to Reuters.

Security concerns

TikTok said on Friday that its platform would “go dark” on Sunday after the US Supreme Court upheld a bipartisan law last year requiring Chinese-owned parent ByteDance to pull the app, citing its ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

Lawmakers have raised national security Fears that China The app can be used to download user data or push certain state-supported content to users in the United States.

Moolenaar raised the same concerns about RedNote and suggested that the law used to force ByteDance to divest from TikTok could similarly be applied to platform owners.

“Parents and social media creators should be aware that the Chinese Communist Party is exploiting PRC-based apps to monitor and censor Americans. The good news is that President Trump has the authority under the TikTok bill to force divestment from other Communist Party-controlled apps.” China, which poses risks to national security as well,” he said.

Xiahongshu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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TikTok creators who jumped on Xiahongshu warned other American users to be wary of China’s strict content moderation and censorship policies.

“This is for my fellow refugees and Americans from TikTok, behave yourself on this app! You better behave because everyone in China is being nice to us and we are colonizing their nice app just because our government is bad,” an American user named “Savannah” reported to CBS News on Wednesday.

If the complaint about TikTok is that it collects too much user data, Xiahongshu has the same problem and is arguably worse.

RedNote’s privacy policy states the platform Collects a large amount of data Including sensitive information such as users’ location via their IP address, browsing habits, and more, Forbes reported.

The terms and conditions are written in Mandarin and English users have difficulty translating them.

Additionally, Xiahongshu is subject to the same Chinese data laws as TikTok, which may give Chinese Communist Party authorities access to user data but without the privacy protections required by US law.

“The platform collects extensive personal data, including location, browsing activity and device-specific information such as IP addresses. It may also share this data with third-party service providers or government authorities, raising concerns about user privacy,” Adrianus Warmenhoven, cybersecurity. An expert at NordVPN told Forbes.

However, some TikTok users have dismissed these concerns. Lifestyle content creator Kayla Murphy, who has over 20,000 followers on TikTok, CT insider said She’s not worried about Chinese data collection.

“Personally, I’m not worried. I live a very honest and open life, and I don’t feel like I have anything to hide. If the governments of China or the United States want to know that I’m a 28-year-old old woman who loves travel and food and my cat, Wednesday, so be it,” Murphy said. “My biggest concerns are systemic issues like health care and the economy.”

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Murphy said she uses Google Translate to add Mandarin captions to her RedNote videos so Chinese users can follow her content.

“One of my favorite posts, featuring my cat, on Wednesday, included a simple introduction in English and Chinese,” Murphy said. “Since most of my content focuses on visual storytelling — like travel and lifestyle — I think it will naturally transcend language barriers.”

Murphy said she wouldn’t be surprised if RedNote became “the next target in the US government’s battle with social media platforms.”

“It feels like a game of whack-a-mole, but young people will always find a way to adapt,” she said.

Fox Business Network’s Chase Williams and Reuters contributed to this report.