TikTok users download another Chinese app to mock spying concerns before ban: ‘We’re here to spite our government’

Young people furious over the ban on TikTok are rushing to download a different Chinese app and mocking Congress for trying to protect them from communist spying.

Congress passed legislation demanding that the popular social media app must be sold off from a company with close ties to the communist Chinese government or face a ban in the U.S. over privacy concerns. The U.S. Supreme Court has been hearing arguments over the ban but appear to be heading toward supporting the law.

‘I am your Chinese spy … please surrender your personal information.’

In protest of the possible ban, some TikTok fans defiantly downloaded Xiaohongshu, a Chinese social media app with similar communist spying concerns. The app name translates to “Little Red Book,” a reference to the book written by Chinese communist hero Mao Zedong, whose policies led to the deaths of tens of millions of people. It quickly became the most downloaded free app on Apple’s store in the U.S., according to the Associated Press.

The movement is spawning fascinating interactions between Chinese citizens and TikTok addicts who are snubbing warnings from U.S. officials.

“I am your Chinese spy … please surrender your personal information or the photographs of your cat (or dog),” joked a user in Sichuan province to a 21-year-old TikTok user from Oklahoma named Alexis Garman.

“What I experienced on (Xiaohongshu) so far has been really great and inviting,” said Garman.

Another American user with the screen name Definitelynotchippy tried to explain to Chinese residents on Xiaohongshu why so many were using the app.

“The reason that our government is telling us that they are banning TikTok is because they’re insisting that it’s owned by you guys, the Chinese people, government, whatever,” she said.

“A lot of us are smarter than that though so we decided to piss off our government and download an actual Chinese app,” she added. “We call that trolling … in short we’re here to spite our government and to learn about China and hang out with you guys.”

The Chinese app is not designed for use by Americans, and some TikTok refugees say they are trying to learn Mandarin in order to talk to people on the app, which they call RedNote.

“TikTok possibly getting banned doesn’t just take away an app, it takes away jobs, friends, and community,” Garman continued. “Personally, the friends and bond I have with my followers will now be gone.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!