170 million users fear

TikTok prepares for shutdown in the USA on Sunday

If a buyer is not found at the last minute, TikTok will be threatened with closure in the USA from Sunday.

(Bild: AFP)

TikTok is preparing for the video platform to be shut down in the USA next Sunday. The plan is that people who try to open the app will see a message directing them to a website with information about the ban, reported "The Information", citing insiders. The app is also planning to give users the option of downloading all their data in order to back it up.

TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance are suspected of espionage due to their proximity to the Chinese government. Although the companies have repeatedly denied the allegations, a US law obliges ByteDance to sell its US business by January 19, 2025. Otherwise, TikTok will be blocked nationwide. This would affect 170 million US users, half of the population. TikTok is challenging this law, which is currently being heard by the US Supreme Court.

A few days before a possible ban on TikTok in the US, the Chinese authorities are considering selling the platform to billionaire and Trump adviser Elon Musk, according to a media report. This option is being discussed in the event that TikTok is unsuccessful in the fight against the ban, wrote the news agency "Bloomberg" on Monday, citing insiders.

"Tiktok refugees" flock to alternative in China
In the face of the impending ban, numerous users have started looking for alternatives - and have come across the Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu. In China, users of the app were astonished to see so many Americans suddenly flocking to its app, which translates as "Little Red Book".

Unlike TikTok, which also originated in China but is designed as an international platform, Xiaohongshu only has a version for the Chinese market. Xiaohongshu, originally launched in 2013 as a shopping platform, has developed into a popular social media app in China that includes photos, videos and written content. It is often referred to as a Chinese Instagram. The vast majority of content is written in Mandarin.

TikTok refugees want to protest against ban
However, this does not stop the "TikTok refugees", as the new US users on the platform call themselves, from making a break for it. Within a short space of time, the Chinese app rose to the top of the download charts in Apple's US App Store. Some of the new US users introduced themselves with short videos and stated that they had switched to Xiaohongshu in protest against the TikTok ban. A lively cultural exchange began.

Curious Chinese users welcomed the Americans and offered them Chinese lessons. US users, meanwhile, appeared to be doing English homework for Chinese users who had posted. Some users began to post videos with both Chinese and English subtitles.

Warning against political posts
However, US users were also quickly warned not to post sensitive political content, as this would violate Chinese law. While US platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and X have long been blocked by censors in China, it is possible for US citizens to access Chinese platforms. Similar to the West, a wide range of topics are shared there, but criticism of the political leadership is rigorously censored.