As the potential US TikTok ban approaches, American content creators are turning to Xiaohongshu (RedNote), a Chinese app akin to Instagram and Pintere

It holds the top position among the most downloaded social networks in the Apple stores in the United States. Shuang is hooked on an app that many of its followers believe ironically adopted the name of a popular red-covered book full of doctrinal quotes from the founding father of communist China.

On the heels of TikTok's looming shutdown on January 19 over its ownership in the U.S. (unless the Supreme Court intervenes), it looks like another American users are flocking to a Chinese app called Xiaohongshu as people become less optimistic that TikTok can overturn U.

Qu, 40, is currently president of and owns an estimated 10% stake in the private company; Forbes estimates she has a net worth of around $1.3 billion. She grew up in Wuhan, China, and studied journalism at Beijing Foreign Studies University before working in marketing, as Fortune ’s Nicholas Gordon reported in October 2024.

TikTok has returned for US users after a brief shutdown. If it goes away for good, these rival apps can help you get your fix of short-form video.

In the days leading up to a proposed US government ban on the social media platform TikTok, American users have turned to another Chinese-owned app, Xiaohongshu.

RedNote, also known as Xiaohongshu, is often compared to TikTok due to its focus on short-form content videos.

As self-described " TikTok refugees" pour onto the Chinese social media app RedNote, also known as Xiaohongshu, some foreign netizens are already running up against the country's extensive censorship apparatus. Newsweek reached out to Xiaohongshu with a request for comment via a general contact email address.

TikTok is facing a ban on the US on January 19, and some users are downloading the the Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu as an alternative.

Several social media apps have appearing high in app store chart rankings as a potential U.S. ban hangs over the heads of TikTok and its American users.

The Chinese apps Xiaohongshu and Lemon8 rose into the top spots on the Apple app store as TikTok faces the prospect of a US ban.

With TikTok's days in the U.S. likely numbered, many American users are moving to another Chinese social media app: RedNote, a heavily censored platform similar to Instagram. Here's what to know.