Chinese social media app RedNote has shot to the top Apples This underscores concerns that TikTok will soon be effectively banned in the US

RedNote, or Xiaohongshu as it is called in China, is the #1 free app on the market Apple App Store from Monday, followed by TikTok’s photo-sharing app Lemon8 and OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Many TikTok creators are rushing to find alternatives that will allow them to continue posting videos while they wait to see what happens to TikTok, which may be banned in the United States on January 19th. The Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week on the April law paving the way for a ban and appeared to agree more favorably with the U.S. government’s arguments that ByteDance’s ownership of TikTok posed a national security risk.

Lawyers representing TikTok and the YouTubers argued that the law violates the free speech protections of millions of its U.S. users.

If the Supreme Court upholds the law, third parties such as Apple And Google is punished for supporting TikTok, effectively banning the app in the US. It is unclear whether President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on January 20, would choose to enforce the law.

Some TikTok creators are implementing contingency plans by migrating to RedNote.

A content creator with the username allieusyaps said in a post on Monday that while it was “fine” that TikTok could be banned in the US, he and other TikTok creators “will not be returning to Instagram and Facebook.” because she joined RedNote.

“Look, I may not have a job next week, but we’re about to learn Mandarin, baby!” the user wrote.

Another TikTok creator named Krystan Walmsley posted a short video showing people how to set up and decorate their RedNote accounts.

“This app is so cute and a lot of fun so far,” Walmsley said.

Shanghai-based RedNote was founded in 2013 and has faced more and more challenges Alibaba and Douyin, ByteDance’s version of TikTok in China, e-commerce and social media. It had about 300 million monthly active users as of July 2024, according to a report by the South China Morning Post.

According to PitchBook, RedNote was valued at $17 billion after raising funding in July from investors including Boyu Capital and HongShan Capital Group, the former Chinese investment arm of Sequoia Capital. According to PitchBook, the company has raised a total of over $900 million and employs more than 2,000 people.

Representatives for RedNote and TikTok did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Regard: TikTok is seen as “Chinese eyes and ears in Western society.”