TikTok refugees were welcomed by Chinese alternative apps before the ban

TikTok users in the US have reported receiving a warm welcome from other Chinese-owned apps amid an impending ban on the hugely popular social media platform.

China-based Lemon8 and RedNote have both seen a surge in downloads from US users as the January 19 deadline to ban TikTok approaches, each topping the app charts.

TikTok, which is owned by ByteDance, will be removed from the Apple and Android app stores on Sunday if the Chinese company fails to sell the app to an approved buyer or convince the US Supreme Court to lift the ban.

The Supreme Court has said it has no intention of stopping the TikTok ban from taking effect, while ByteDance has given no indication it plans to sell the app.

Awaiting the implementation of this ban, TikTok users are looking for alternative social media apps.

“My roommate downloaded RedNote (the Chinese version of Pinterest/Insta) like six hours ago and it’s already saying ‘big ad for Mao Zedong,'” X user James Ray posted on Tuesday. “We are witnessing a moment.”

Chinese users have joked with new American users about being spies, while others have shared pictures of their children and pets.

“This is such a weird moment,” one X user posted on Tuesday.

“This is the first time in a very long time that Chinese and American users can interact freely without an intermediary or VPN. I doubt it will be long before XHS (RedNote) breaks them apart. But I hope they don’t. It’s really beautiful.”

Some users refer to it as the “Berlin Wall 2025”, with popular new apps breaking through the cyber barrier of China’s Great Firewall.

Although TikTok is owned by a Chinese company, it is not actually available in China. Instead, ByteDance runs a similar app called Douyin in its home country, which is not available internationally.

Other social media apps popular in the US, such as Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), are also blocked in China as part of the country’s strict censorship laws, meaning web users in both countries rarely have access to interact with each other.

TikTok’s impending ban centers on national security concerns, with lawmakers claiming its Chinese ties could lead to spying or political manipulation of people’s feeds, but such concerns haven’t deterred American users from seeking out Chinese-owned alternatives.

TikTok has consistently denied the allegations, claiming the US ban is unconstitutional and violates Americans’ First Amendment rights.