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PSA: Xiaohongshu and Lemon8 Are Not Viable Alternatives to TikTok


With just a few days before TikTok is banned in the USAmerican TikTok users are now looking for alternatives, and other Chinese-owned apps are now gaining popularity as potential new destinations for avid TikTok users.

The latest application in the spotlight is Xiaohongshu (which translates to “Red Note” in English), an Instagram-like app that also supports video connection.

Red Note application

Xiaohongshu has become a popular social connector in China, now with more than 300 million users, and also shares some similar qualities to TikTok, especially in terms of in-stream purchases.

Which is clearly a lure for at least some of TikTok’s US audience, with Xiaohongshu and Lemon8, TikTok’s sister app, reaching the top two spots in the US app download charts on Monday.

Which clearly suggests that TikTok users in the US are looking at them as a potential alternative, though neither is likely to be a safe landing spot for ex-TikTok users, should the US sell-off bill actually go through.

As reported Ars Technicaboth Xiaohongshu and Lemon8 will be subject to the same regulations as TikTok, under the same bill that will force TikTok out of the region.

According to Ars Technica:

“Under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversaries Controlled Apps Act, which would force TikTok to sell or seek a ban, any social media app controlled by foreign adversaries with more than 1 million monthly active users could be banned. ByteDance and TikTok are both singled out by law, meaning any significant increase in US users on other ByteDance apps would likely trigger oversight.”

So both Lemon8, which is also owned by ByteDance, and Xiaohongshu would also fall under the same law, and both would also be banned, if they reached a critical mass of US users.

So while they may seem like potential alternatives right now, that’s only because US officials aren’t looking in their direction. More.

Although Lemon8, like TikTok’s video editing app CapCut, will be shut down on the same day as TikTok, if TikTok’s current appeal to the Supreme Court fails, because as account states:

The term “app controlled by a foreign adversary” means a website, desktop application, mobile application, or augmented or immersive technology application operated, directly or indirectly (including through a parent company, subsidiary or affiliate), by any of ByteDance, Ltd. ., TikTok, a subsidiary or successor of an entity referred to in clause (i) or (ii) that is controlled by the opposing party; or an entity owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by an entity identified in clause (i), (ii) or (iii).”

So it’s pretty clear that any app owned by ByteDance will be subject to takedown in the US once this is enacted.

In other words, while US users may think that these are viable alternatives to TikTok that can also offer something similar to TikTok, as opposed to a throwback to Instagram, their presence is also on shaky ground.

So no, Xiaohongshu and Lemon8 aren’t viable alternatives in the US, and the increase in downloads doesn’t mean they’ll be the next platform users focus on.



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