by Om Bhaskar (‘27)
Rednote is an app that recently took social media by storm. Called “Xiaohongshu” in Mandarin, the app is similar to the more popular “TikTok,” which added to its appeal.
Rednote is an app created in 2013 that is older than TikTok. Unlike TikTok, it is not made for Western purposes. The app's standardized language is Mandarin, which makes it far less internationally viable than TikTok. Additionally, Rednote is far more heavily moderated than TikTok. This did not stop a massive influx of TikTok users from joining the platform after TikTok was threatened with a ban.
During the period of time in January when a permanent ban on TikTok was a serious possibility, many people decided to migrate to Rednote, which was not under threat of a ban at the time.
According to an article by CNN, “the hashtag “TikTok refugee” had garnered nearly 250 million views and over 5.5 million comments.”
Rednote had become one of the most frequently downloaded apps in the last week before the TikTok ban. While wanting an alternative account to watch short-form content was part of the reason why so many people decided to download the app, there is another important reason, which is to spite the U.S. government.
The U.S. government’s attempt to ban TikTok caused many to be angry with the government.
In an interview with sophomore Vinay Subramanian, he said, “I did view the government in a more negative light due to the ban of TikTok, but not necessarily because I downloaded Rednote.”
The government wanted to ban the app because of “national security issues” pertaining to China’s involvement in the app. However, a lot of people believed that this was an infringement of the First Amendment and that it would hurt the economy. Due to this, many thought the government was becoming tyrannical and opposed to the interests of young people, many downloaded an app located directly in China to spite them.
While people going against the government may be seen by some as a fight against tyranny, it is important to note that the app they switched over to restricts far more content, such as content with LGBT themes and events that put the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in a bad light.
Subramanian said, “I think this censorship is a problem as people should be able to express their thoughts online.”
The app is also not even technically called “Rednote,” but “Little Red Book.” This is a callback to Mao Zedong’s “Little Red Book,” a propaganda tool used by the Chinese government during an event called the “Cultural Revolution,” which killed hundreds of thousands of people.
According to a Stanford Study, “China’s Cultural Revolution – a rebellion that followed Chairman Mao’s appeal in 1966 to reassert communist ideology in China – was a brutal conflict that according to new calculations by Stanford sociologist Andrew Walder led to the deaths of 1.6 million people.”
While the elimination of TikTok was seen by many as an infringement of freedom and an attempt by the government to repress Americans, the alternative that many had moved to, ironically, is not necessarily the best either, at least when it comes to handling freedom of speech.
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