Why the U.S. government didn’t forget its founding principles, and why we live in the US — not the communists or the Communists
Did the U.S. government forget its founding principles? We are a nation built on spite,” user @thesleepydm posted on TikTok, where they have over 200,000 followers. We are giving our information to the Chinese government. The communists just have our information directly because of … what you did.”
TikTok faces a ban under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, which passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and was signed last year by President Joe Biden (who is reportedly experiencing some buyer’s remorse right now). Byte Dance is the parent company of TikTok, which it could apply to any other company that complies with the following criteria.
Duolingo, the language learning app, tweeted on Wednesday that it has seen a whopping 216% increase in Mandarin learners in the U.S. compared to this time last year — adding that people “learning Mandarin out of spite” are “not alone.”
Plus, since most of the app’s content is in Mandarin, subtitles are suddenly rampant — as are posts from Americans who want to learn the language, including by exchanging translations of popular slang phrases with Chinese commenters.
Those include some 546 derogatory nicknames for Chinese leader Xi Jinping, as well as discussion of events such as labor strikes, geographic discrimination, student suicides and criticism of the Chinese Communist Party.
While RedNote — like all social media apps in China — is subject to government censorship, many users are cheering the opportunity for cross-cultural exchange, especially given the tense relationship between the U.S. and Chinese governments and the fact that major platforms like Google and Facebook are blocked in China.
Don’t say anything regarding the Lesbian, gay, bisexual, or queer community. Thank you! Newsweek reported on an example of a user writing in Beijing. The Advocate reported that some American users have had their content removed or accounts suspended, including one woman who was banned for wearing a low-cut top in one video and mentioning “trans plight” in another.
Participants in a group chat on this week viewed over 30,000 times and discussed how to avoid being banned from the platform for bringing up politically sensitive topics, as reported by the New York Times.
What to know about RedNote, the Chinese app that American Tik Tokkers are flooding? A new analysis of its impact on search, beauty, fashion and beauty
RedNote, as far as publicly available information indicates, could be forced to divest or face a ban under the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act. A US official has confirmed that, saying it “appears to be the kind of app that the statute would apply to.”
Over the seven-day period starting in January, the app’s downloads in the U.S. increased by more than 30 times compared to the same period last year.
The RedNote app moved to the top of the “free apps” chart on the Apple app store after a big jump in search and social media activity this week. According to the Sensor Tower firm, RedNote has become the top-ranked social app on the platform, a big jump from last year where it stood at #162.
Xiaohongshu, which means “Little Red Book,” has been the name of the business over the years. The phrase is used to refer to a collection of quotes from the leader of the Chinese Communists.
It was originally dubbed “Hong Kong Shopping Guide” but now it is known as “Shenzhen Shopping Guide” and is intended for Chinese tourists.
RedNote is not the same app as before. It’s considered China’s answer to Instagram, with a layout similar to Pinterest (displaying multiple posts at the same time) and a focus on travel, makeup, fashion and shopping.
RedNote Makes President-Elect Donald Trump or Silicon Valley Oligarchy Mad : A Virtual Forum on the Future of Artificial Intelligence
“For so long we really haven’t been able to connect or talk with each other like this, but now we finally can, and it feels so special,” one Chinese user, who identified himself as Abe, said in a now-viral post. “This is such a real chance for us to get to know each other and maybe create something amazing together … You are not just welcome here, I really, really hope you will stay.”
We exit the world of policy in this area and begin our careers in politics. The question isn’t really how RedNote operates; it’s whether RedNote makes President-elect Donald Trump or the Silicon Valley oligarchy mad.
The law mentions TikTok by name as a national security threat, so that platform is basically cooked — the divest-or-ban deadline was set in motion once the law was signed, bypassing much of the process above. The law covers any subsidiary of ByteDance and while the company hasn’t commented on apps like Lemon8 yet, they will likely face scrutiny as well. But the president has significantly more leeway in deciding the fate of other apps.
If a company meets the legal criteria, the buck passes to the president, who can decide whether to initiate a divest-or-ban procedure. This requires a series of steps:
