WASHINGTON (AP) — As the fate of TikTok hangs in the balance, U.S. TikTok users are flocking to the Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu, also called RedNote – making it the top downloaded app in the U.S.
Some of the “TikTok refugees,” as they call themselves, say the TikTok alternative, a Chinese app, is being chosen in protest of the TikTok ban. Here's what you need to know about Xiaohongshu.
It is a lifestyle social media app which allows users to post short videos, photos and texts, and it also includes functions like live-streaming and shopping.
A rare wave of U.S.-China camaraderie broke out online in recent days as “refugees” from the popular short video platform TikTok poured onto a Chinese social media platform to protest a likely ban on the service.
They were met with surprise, curiosity and in-jokes on Xiaohongshu — literally, “Little Red Book” — whose users saw English-language posts take over feeds almost overnight.
Americans introduced themselves with hashtag TikTok refugees, ask me anything attitude and posting photos of their pets to pay their hosts’ “cat tax.” Parents swapped stories about raising kids and Swifties from both countries, of course, quickly found each other.
It’s a rare moment of direct contact between two online worlds that are usually kept apart by language, corporate boundaries, and China’s strict system of online censorship that blocks access to nearly all international media and social media services.
Chinese and American users rarely find themselves in the same online spaces, in large part because China’s “Great Firewall” blocks internationally popular platforms like Instagram and X. Even TikTok blocks users in China, directing them to its onshore sister platform Douyin.
But as the deadline approached for a law that would ban TikTok in the United States beginning Jan. 19 unless the popular social media program is sold by its China-based parent company, some began migrating to Xiaohongshu.
“When they tell us you can’t have a Chinese app anymore, we go straight to another Chinese app,” said Katie Lawson, a farmer in Tulsa, Oklahoma, who has posted videos of her chickens and saved many recipes from the app. “We’re going to go explore that country and their values ourselves. We’re going to go straight to the source.”
Although TikTok is owned by a Chinese parent company, the short video platform popular with Generation Z is an international app whose content and users are walled off from those of the Chinese version, Douyin.
Xiaohongshu’s 300 million monthly active users are overwhelmingly Chinese – so much so that parts of its interface have no English-language version. They skew heavily female, often addressing strangers simply as “sister.”
Known for a friendly atmosphere that focuses on user reviews and peer-to-peer advice, it’s one of China’s fastest-growing apps. Foreign celebrities – including Mariah Carey and Elon Musk’s mother Maye Musk -- are longtime users. Kim Kardashian joined the app back in 2018.
The company hasn’t released official data, but the app has reached No. 1 in free downloads on both iOS and Android, remaining in that spot for days.
On the platform, two versions of the TikTok refugee hashtag have over 24 million posts, with related posts appearing at the top of many users’ feeds.
A large number of American users say they’ve received a warm welcome from the community, with #TikTokrefugee. “Welcome the global villagers” remains the top one trending topic on Xiaohongshu, with 8.9 million views on Thursday.
Users from both countries are comparing notes on grocery prices, rent, health insurance, medical bills and the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. Parents talk about what the kids learn in school in two countries. Some have already joined book clubs and are building up a community.
American users asked how Chinese see the LGBTQ community and got warned that it was among sensitive topics, Chinese users taught Americans what are sensitive topics and key words to avoid censorship on the app. Chinese students pulled out their English homework, looking for help.
Chinese state media, which have long dismissed U.S. allegations against TikTok, have welcomed the protest against the ban.
People’s Daily, China’s biggest national newspaper, said in an op-ed about TikTok refugees on Thursday that says the TikTok refugees found a “new home,” and “openness, communication, and mutual learning are the unchanging themes of mankind and the heartfelt desires of people from all countries.”
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs didn’t respond immediately to AP’s interview request.
Cohen reported from Bangkok.
Icons for the smartphone apps Xiaohongshu and TikTok are seen on a smartphone screen in Beijing, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
ISTANBUL (AP) — The head of Turkey's main opposition party visited jailed Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu on Tuesday after six nights of massive protests calling for his release.
Imamoglu, arrested on March 19 on corruption charges, is seen as the main challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 22-year rule. His arrest has been widely viewed as politically motivated and sparked demonstrations, some turning violent, across the country. The government insists Turkey’s judiciary is independent and free of political influence.
Ozgur Ozel, the leader of Imamoglu's Republican People’s Party, or CHP, arrived at Silivri prison, west of Istanbul, in a convoy of vehicles Tuesday morning.
After a two-hour meeting, Ozel told reporters that he was “ashamed on behalf of those who govern Turkey of the atmosphere I am in and the situation that Turkey is being put through.”
He described Imamoglu and two jailed CHP district mayors he also met as “three lions inside, standing tall, with their heads held high … proud of themselves, their families, their colleagues, not afraid.”
Ozel announced the night before that Tuesday evening would be CHP's final rally outside Istanbul’s City Hall, calling for people to join in. He also said the party would appoint a member to the municipal council to act as mayor in Imamoglu's place, staving off the possibility of a state-appointed replacement.
Meanwhile, Turkish authorities have been cracking down on journalists as protests have grown.
The Media and Law Studies Association, a civil society group, said eight journalists who were detained “for covering protests in Istanbul,” banned by authorities, had been brought to the city’s Caglayan Courthouse. They are accused of “violating the law on meetings and demonstrations," the group said.
The journalists were among 206 people prosecutors have recommended for imprisonment pending trial in relation to the protests, including left-wing activists rounded up at their homes in raids early on Monday.
Media workers’ unions have condemned the arrests as an “attack on press freedoms and the people’s right to learn the truth.”
Meanwhile, the head of the CHP's Istanbul branch, Ozgur Celik, shared a letter he had received from the prosecutor’s office ordering the removal of poster of Imamoglu. He said he would not comply.
“You will see more of Mayor Ekrem on the balconies of houses, in squares, on the streets and on the walls,” Celik posted on X.
Demonstrations in Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir, as well as smaller cities and towns across Turkey, have been largely peaceful with protesters demanding Imamoglu’s release and an end to democratic backsliding. However, some turned violent, with officers deploying water cannons, tear gas and pepper spray and firing plastic pellets at protesters, some of whom have hurled stones, fireworks and other objects at riot police.
The governors of Ankara and Izmir on Tuesday extended bans on demonstrations to April 1 and March 29 respectively. The ban in Istanbul currently runs to March 27.
Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said early Tuesday that police had detained 43 “provocateurs” over what he said were “vile insults” hurled at Erdogan and his family at protests. Some 1,133 protesters were detained between Wednesday and Sunday, he said earlier.
Ozel and Imamoglu's social media accounts posted condemnations of insults hurled at Erdogan's mother.
Imamoglu has been jailed on suspicion of running a criminal organization, accepting bribes, extortion, illegally recording personal data and bid-rigging — accusations he has denied. He also faces prosecution on terror-related charges and has been suspended from duty as a “temporary measure.”
Alongside Imamoglu, 47 other people have been jailed pending trial, including a key aide and two district mayors from Istanbul. A further 44 suspects in the case alleging widespread graft at Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality were released under judicial control.
Although Turkey is not due for another election until 2028, there is a reasonable possibility that Erdogan will call for an early vote in order to run for another term.
Imamoglu has been confirmed as the candidate for the CHP and has performed well in recent polls against Erdogan. He was elected mayor of Turkey’s largest city in March 2019, in a major blow to Erdogan and his Justice and Development Party, which had controlled Istanbul alongside its predecessors for a quarter-century.
University students sit next to anti riot police officers during a protest after Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested and sent to prison, in Istanbul, Turkey, Monday, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Huseyin Aldemir)
Riot police fire tear gas pellets to disperse protesters in Istanbul, Turkey, Monday, March 24, 2025, during a protest after Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested and sent to prison. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
People shout slogans next to anti riot police officers during a protest after Istanbul's Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu was arrested and sent to prison, in Istanbul, Turkey, Monday, March 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)
