TikTok’s Farewell, RedNote’s Hello: How America Pushed Its Youth To China

Why the TikTok ban backfired and sparked a cross-cultural revolution.

The TikTok ban officially goes into effect tomorrow. Whether that means the app goes dark or is removed from the app store and never updated again is unknown. But this week, regarding the ban, I’ve witnessed something fascinating, something amazing, and something that will have long-term political consequences.

How did we get here? What am I seeing? And what consequences?

If you’re new here, hyperlinks lead to sources.

First, TikTok is no more of a national security threat than Facebook or Twitter. Yes, I know that’s not what Congress has been saying, and the Supreme Court upheld the ban yesterday. But the issue is much more complex than that.

• According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the idea that TikTok is a Chinese government tool to sway US politics is overblown. While TikTok collects personal data, this is consistent with all other social media platforms. No evidence suggests China has effectively leveraged this data for harmful purposes like espionage or counterintelligence.

• According to Newsweek, there is no conclusive evidence of TikTok being used to manipulate global or US events on behalf of the CCP.

• From CNN, any evidence that TikTok poses a national security risk is mainly hypothetical and not unique to TikTok compared to other social media companies.

I’m sure you can find articles from other sources that say something different. Here are the main concerns:

1. TikTok, owned by ByteDance, could provide the Chinese government access to sensitive personal data.

2. TikTok’s algorithms could be weaponized for misinformation or propaganda campaigns.

3. China has a history of cyber intrusions and strategic information warfare.

For the record, American TikTok houses its data in America.

Why those government concerns are nonsense:

Congressmembers have stated that the Chinese government would spy on us. Hello, NSA. National Security Agency (NSA) has been involved in mass surveillance, gathering vast amounts of communication data. Reports indicate that the NSA has targeted hundreds of thousands of individuals, groups, and organizations, leading to concerns about its surveillance operations.

It is also a stretch to argue that TikTok must be banned because of an unsubstantiated fear that its algorithms could be weaponized for misinformation or propaganda campaigns. Hello, Cambridge Analytica. In 2016, Russian entities exploited Facebook’s algorithms to disseminate divisive content, reaching millions of Americans. The Internet Research Agency, a Russian troll farm, created fake accounts and pages that Facebook’s algorithms promoted, spreading disinformation. Facebook was never banned in America.

In fact, research indicates that Facebook’s algorithms contribute to political polarization by creating echo chambers. Yet, Facebook was never banned in America.

Since Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, it has amplified far-right content. NBC News stated that Musk had turned Twitter into a pro-Trump echo chamber. The EU is investigating Twitter, accusing it of interfering in its elections and violating the EU Digital Services Act. Germany has also accused Musk of meddling in its elections. 

Did Elon Musk interfere with the 2024 election? Well, duh. And his manipulation of algorithms on Twitter doesn’t even include his $1 million lottery scheme in Pennsylvania. Yet, Twitter was never banned in America.

But our data privacy is sacred.

In one of the most significant breaches in history, Equifax exposed the personal data of 148 million US citizens, including Social Security numbers and financial information. Between 2013 and 2016, Yahoo compromised over 3 billion user accounts, revealing email addresses, passwords, and security questions. In 2024, hackers infiltrated AT&T’s systems, stealing the call and text logs of approximately 109 million customers, including FBI agents.

In 2024, several hospitals in Texas experienced data breaches, including Parkland Health in Dallas, UMC Health System in Lubbock, and TTUHSC in Lubbock and El Paso.

Since 2005, 12,098 data breaches have exposed over 11.1 billion records. The Federal Trade Commission receives more than 1.1 million reports of identity theft annually.

Our data may be sacred, but it’s at risk from nearly every entity we interact with daily. Data breaches are common, from the companies we trust with our finances to the hospitals we rely on for healthcare. Even institutions tasked with safeguarding our most sensitive data are not immune.

So if Congress insists on banning TikTok in the name of national security, we must ask: Where is the outrage for the institutions and corporations closer to home that have already proven their inability to protect us? If our data is sacred, why has it been disregarded so many times?

Then, there’s that whole First Amendment thing.

• According to the ACLU, banning TikTok is unconstitutional

• The New York Bar Association: A Tik-Tok Ban? The First Amendment Implications Should not be Underestimated.

Listen to what US Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) had to say:

I never thought I would say these words in a hundred million years: I agree with Rand Paul. It violates the First Amendment, even if the Supreme Court upheld it.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

-The First Amendment, United States Constitution

So, if…

-TikTok is no more of a security risk than any other aspect of our digital lives,

-It’s been speculated to have the ability to manipulate America but hasn’t been involved in the same malicious activity we’ve seen in other social media apps,

-And banning it violates the First Amendment…

Why is it being banned?

Meta spent a record $7.6 million lobbying the federal government in the first three months of 2024 when Congress passed the bill to ban TikTok—and spent $18 million lobbying Congress for the year.

Once TikTok is banned, Meta could gain up to $3.38 billion in freed-up ad revenue. 

Here are some (but not all) of the Congresspeople who own stock in Meta:

• Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA14)

• Jonathan L. Jackson (D-IL01)

• Jared Moskowitz (D-FL23)

• John James (R-MI10)

• Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ05)

• Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK)

Those are just some. Maybe all Congresspeople own stocks in Meta…or at least the ones who voted in favor of the TikTok ban.

But the Supreme Court upheld the ban.

Do you mean these guys:

The current ages of our Supreme Court Justices (chronologically): 52, 54, 57, 59, 64, 69, 70, 74. and 76.

Not all Supreme Court Justices are too old to grasp TikTok as a cultural phenomenon. Still, you can better believe they’re likely aware of how integral TikTok is to modern communication, culture, and creativity.

But cultural understanding isn’t necessarily the issue. It’s technological understanding and, more importantly, the willingness to consider the broader implications of such a decision. TikTok isn’t just a platform for lip-sync videos or dance trends. For many, especially Gen Z and millennials, it’s a primary source of news, education, and income. It’s a space where marginalized voices thrive, and traditional barriers to entry in media and business are lower.

About the Supreme Court, listen to TikTok user orums542 talk about the money that our Supreme Court Justices (on both sides of the aisle) have invested in Meta:

TikTok reported having 170 million monthly active users in the US—that’s 50% of Americans. Over 7 million US businesses utilize TikTok to reach customers and promote their products or services. In 2023, TikTok generated $14.7 billion for SMBs, contributing more than $24 billion to the US economy and supporting over 224,000 American jobs. In 2024, the platform’s ad revenue in the United States was estimated at approximately $8 billion.

TikTok users are looking at all of these facts, the same facts I’ve presented to you, and their reaction is stereotypically American.

These TikTok users, primarily under 40, are fully aware that the government profits from TikTok’s competitor, Meta, while banning their favorite app, one they use daily, under the guise of “data privacy and national security.” They also know their data is frequently breached, and Facebook and Twitter have interfered in elections. Their response has been one big middle finger to the American government.

In response to the TikTok ban, millions of Americans have downloaded the app they call “RedNote.” Its actual name is Xiaohongshu, which translates in Chinese to “Little Red Book.” Yes, Little Red Book, as in Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung.

Daily RedNote users in the US reached 13.3 million, nearly 15% of TikTok’s domestic traffic. Just over a week ago, the TikTok community decided to move to Xiaohongshu, meaning millions of Americans join each day. Although American users have called it the “Chinese version of TikTok,” Chinese users describe it as a mix of Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest. 

Xiaohongshu has roughly 300 million active Chinese users monthly.

I can only describe what I have seen on TikTok over the last few days as culture shock. Maybe you’re on TikTok and have seen the same thing, but on my “For You Page,” 90% of videos are about Xiaohongshu.

Hundreds, maybe thousands, are discussing how life in China appears much easier. I’ve seen several videos of people crying. This week, the conversation on TikTok has been mainly about how much Americans have suffered without healthcare, fair wages, and quality education. Chinese cities are much more technologically advanced. And Americans are blown away at how much groceries the Chinese people can afford, and all their food is fresh and not processed.

I’m unsure I can articulate the full scope of what I see on TikTok, so I recorded it in a video. The video wound up being an hour long because the videos just aren’t stopping. It’s a mixture of Americans being petty, practicing Chinese (Mandarin), cross-sharing videos from Xiaohongshu, discussing connections, and even crying about the culture shock.

I know it’s long (I got carried away), but I urge you to watch even a few minutes of it to get the scope of what’s happening:

Yes, a lot of people are actually learning Mandarin.

Radicalization in the making.

What we’re witnessing isn’t just a mass migration to another app. It’s the beginning of a cultural and political reckoning. Americans, driven by spite, curiosity, and a desire for connection, have flocked to Xiaohongshu, creating an unprecedented cultural exchange between two nations that have spent decades demonizing each other.

This isn’t just a digital migration. It’s the unraveling of deeply entrenched narratives.

For the first time in modern history, everyday Americans and Chinese citizens interact on a massive scale without intermediaries or filters. They share stories, exchange memes, and confront stereotypes.

Americans are discovering a side of China they’ve never been allowed to see: affordable living, universal healthcare, technological advancement, and a quality of life that contrasts starkly with their own struggles. Meanwhile, Chinese users are witnessing the raw frustration and systemic disillusionment of an American populace fed up with their government.

This interaction is leading to a quiet but profound radicalization. Many Americans on Xiaohongshu openly question the propaganda they’ve been fed their entire lives. They’re beginning to believe that China isn’t the dystopian nightmare they were told about but, instead, a place that, while not perfect, offers its citizens stability, dignity, and a chance to thrive. They also see their own country in a new, unflattering light. A land of unaffordable healthcare, crushing debt, failing infrastructure, and politicians more interested in corporate profits than public welfare.

The irony is almost poetic. The American government, through its greed and short-sightedness, created this situation. Banning TikTok under the guise of “national security” but influenced by Meta’s lobbying dollars inadvertently pushed their citizens into the arms of their greatest geopolitical rival.

What could have remained an obscure cultural app is now a hub for cross-cultural communication, and the floodgates are wide open. We will see the consequences. Whether that’s the radicalization of the first generation since the 1960s to challenge domestic and global power structures or the beginning of an unprecedented cultural realignment between two superpowers remains to be seen.

Can anyone stop this?

If China’s government decides that this influx of Americans on Xiaohongshu risks its national security or cultural integrity, it could impose restrictions or censor content. However, doing so could backfire. The Chinese government has long sought to improve its global image, and this grassroots cultural exchange is achieving that goal far better than any propaganda campaign ever could.

Chinese-state media outlets published by the Chinese Communist Party welcomed the new users, with an opinion piece saying it is bringing Americans “closer to China.”

The American government could attempt to ban Xiaohongshu, framing it as another “national security threat.” However, doing so would only solidify the growing belief among younger Americans that their government fears free speech and global connection. It would further radicalize an already disillusioned population and likely lead to another wave of defiance. Plus, how many free speech outlets is our government going to ban before we start calling them North Korea?

Never before have Americans and Chinese citizens been able to engage with each other at this scale, bypassing governments, media filters, and corporate gatekeepers.

This is globalization at its most grassroots level.

For decades, the American government told its citizens that China was a “bad place.” Now, millions of Americans question whether that narrative was a lie. They see a nation that, at least from their perspective, offers its people opportunities and dignity they feel they’ve been denied. And they’re asking the uncomfortable question, “Is America the bad place?”

This shift is significant and dangerous for both governments. For the US, it threatens to destabilize the carefully crafted myth of American exceptionalism. For China, it risks exposing its citizens to unflattering truths about their own government. But the genie is out of the bottle. The more both governments try to control the narrative, the more their people will push back.

At its core, this moment is about trust…or the lack of it.

TikTok users seem to be realizing that their government’s priorities are profits, control, and maintaining the status quo, not protecting their freedoms or improving their lives. And as they connect with Chinese citizens who share their frustrations and humanity, they’re starting to wonder: What else have we been lied to about?

This is the unintended consequence of greed and hubris.

In trying to control the flow of information, the American government opened the can of worms. And now, both America and China have a new reality and a generation that refuses to accept the narratives they’ve been handed, that questions everything, and that is finding common ground in the most unlikely places.

• January 24: Left In Texas Podcast - Representative Ana-Maria Ramos

• March 14: The last day Legislators can file bills.

• June 2: The 89th Legislative Session ends.

• Click here to find out what Legislative districts you’re in.

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