At least as of this writing, we’re still awaiting a decision from the Supreme Court on TikTok’s future, but the app’s users aren’t waiting around to find out what happens.
Over the last few days, TikTok alternatives like Clapper, Flip, and TikTok’s own Lemon8 have risen to the top of the app store charts. The most popular of them all, Xiaohongshu, has made the biggest impression on its over 700,000 new users.
The exodus—which was prompted by the ban attempt and carried out through sheer spite—proves how pointless the effort to protect Americans from a “dangerous” app, which has taken more than five years, has truly been. In fact, the effort has seemingly made things worse for those in power.
Let’s discuss!
This is an edition of the WIRED Politics Lab newsletter. Read previous newsletters here.
Just Desserts!
Over and over again, the US government has said that its main goal in banning TikTok has always been to shield American users from Chinese propaganda and protect their data.
I think it’s fair to say that, unsurprisingly, the government messed up. Big time.
In just a few short days, Xiaohongshu—meaning “Little Red Book” in English—has flipped US-China relations on its head. The app was founded in 2013 and acts as something like a Chinese version of Instagram. Not only are Americans consuming videos and images on an app that actively censors content related to Tiananmen Square and shows nothing when searching for “Xi Jinping,” but they’re vengefully agreeing for the app to track their data. Just all around, the opposite outcome from what the US intelligence community desired.
Many Americans are also giving advice on how to better integrate with Xiaohongshu’s predominantly Chinese user base. One TikTok user posted a video this week asking new American users to “stop saying democracy” on the app. “If you’re Taiwanese,” she said, “and you’re on Xiaohongshu, you are now Chinese. Sorry.” I couldn’t find a single piece of criticism in her comment section. In fact, many users were thanking her for the tips.
If anything, the attempt to ban TikTok has inspired more interest in China among Americans than anything else. There’s been a huge influx of TikTok users learning Mandarin by chatting with Chinese Xiaohongshu users or downloading language learning apps like Duolingo.
“Started learning in Duolingo and from creators on Red Note [or Xiaohongshu],” one TikTok user wrote to me. “Even added the Chinese keyboard option on my phone.”
“Downloaded Red Note and had my first Duolingo Chinese lesson this morning 😂,” said another.
“oh so NOW you’re learning mandarin,” the X account for Duolingo posted on Tuesday responding to the growth in interest.
There’s been a 216 percent increase in new Duolingo users signing up to learn Chinese, Duolingo spokesperson Monica Earle tells WIRED. When someone signs up for a Duolingo account, they’re asked to fill in a survey explaining how they found the app, and the company has observed “a corresponding spike” in users selecting “TikTok” as the reason they’ve joined Duolingo.
“This is a much bigger increase than other languages,” says Earle. “For example, Spanish, one of our most popular languages to learn in the US, grew 40 percent over the same time period.”
Thousands of Americans would apparently rather join an app they can barely use than hop over to something more frictionless like Instagram Reels or YouTube Shorts. “I would rather stare at a language I can’t understand than to ever use a social media [platform] that Mark Zuckerberg owns,” a TikTok user said in a video my colleague Zeyi Yang included in his most recent report about the app.
Neither the government nor Silicon Valley tech companies have done a good job of earning the trust of TikTok users, either. While lobbying for TikTok’s demise, lawmakers and intelligence officials basically asked for TikTokkers to take them at their word that the app was dangerous without providing much public evidence to back up their claim. (It’s especially rich given that data that not long ago would have been unavailable to the world’s most powerful spy services is now freely available to anyone with a credit card.) Last week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg rolled out a complete reversal on hate speech protections, which likely didn’t help in winning disaffected users over to his platforms. On Xiaohongshu, the primary sentiment among new American users is that the app’s users are overwhelmingly friendly and welcoming.
I don’t think Xiaohongshu will ever fully replace TikTok, but more importantly, it is sending a message. Even if the Supreme Court decides to uphold the ban, the government will not have met its goal of quarantining US users from Chinese influence. The multiyear project will have been an abject failure.
The Chatroom
Many of you responded to last week’s question about Meta’s changes to its hate speech policies. There were a handful of readers who deactivated their Facebook accounts (one dating back to 2008) once Zuckerberg announced the updates.
But Jerry’s email pretty much sums up all of your responses:
“I am a white guy, 72 years old, and really don’t care what latex corrupted dildos say about me. But to give carte blanche to basement stooges and Trumpster haters to harass, hate and incite violence against the powerless just tells me how far that coward Zuckerberg has crawled up Trump’s ass.”
This week, I want to know what your plans are if TikTok is banned. Are you learning Mandarin? Using Xiaohongshu? Maybe another app?
Leave a comment on the site or send your thoughts to mail@wired.com.
WIRED Reads
- Far-Right Extremists Are LARPing as Emergency Workers in Los Angeles: Far-right extremists are livestreaming themselves pretending to be emergency officials as disastrous wildfires continue to burn around Los Angeles.
- New US Rule Aims to Block China’s Access to AI Chips and Models by Restricting the World: This week, the Biden administration issued a new plan that would limit access to American chips and algorithms across the globe. Arms-embargoed countries like China and North Korea have long been barred from obtaining American chips, but are now also forbidden from purchasing advanced AI models.
- How the US TikTok Ban Would Actually Work: My colleague Matt Burgess explains how exactly the looming TikTok ban would work. There’s still plenty of uncertainty, but it’s likely that the app will continue to operate at least into the near future.
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What Else We’re Reading
🔗 Man Named Mao Who Started Chinese App Called “Little Red Book” Was Actually Inspired by Stanford University and Mitt Romney: If you thought Xiaohongshu, or Little Red Book, or Red Note, or whatever you want to call it was named in honor of Mao Ze Dong. You’re incredibly wrong. (Futurism)
🔗 She Is in Love With ChatGPT: A 28-year-old woman named Ayrin bravely gets into the nitty-gritty of what it’s like to train and use ChatGPT as a virtual boyfriend. I’d die before anyone could get some of this out of me. (New York Times)
🔗 Is It Finally Time to End the “Blessed” Super PAC?: Kyle Tharp, who used to write the FWIW newsletter for Courier, launched his own independent newsletter this week. The first edition focuses on Future Forward, a tech-backed super PAC, and how it exemplifies the Democrats’ spending problems. (Chaotic Era)
The Download
Jimmy Donaldson, better known as Mr. Beast, wants to buy TikTok. He’ll need a lot more cash than the $100 million budgeted for the “Beast Games,” but the YouTube star still might be the best option to take over the app. He is the foremost leading expert on how to entertain audiences with short attention spans.
TMZ reports that Jake and Logan Paul, Dana White, and Theo Von will be attending Trump’s inauguration.
Faiz Shakir, executive director of More Perfect Union and former Bernie Sanders campaign manager, is running for DNC chair.
Trump “received the first-ever Presidential Commemorative Inaugural Diet Coke bottle.”
The perfect take on GenZ and the online information ecosystem.
Since we retired the podcast, I figured I’d start using The Download section to include everything that doesn’t normally fit into the newsletter. Does this work? Let me know. You can get in touch with me via email, Instagram, X, Bluesky, and Signal at makenakelly.32.