US TikTok users are lashing out at the US government’s decision to ban TikTok, taking a swipe at another Chinese social media app, RedNote (aka Xiaohongshu), sending it to the top of the US App Store on Monday. Unfortunately, many of those who have already made the switch have run into issues with their accounts being suspended and banned for various reasons.
Initially, RedNote seemed like a promising alternative to ByteDance’s TikTok in terms of app functionality, given its focus on short-form video streams and content from creators. However, the app is not a one-to-one replacement for TikTok, as it is also designed to serve as a Chinese Yelp or Google alternative that offers local recommendations and nearby connections in addition to video streaming.
Meanwhile, some users who joined RedNote — including popular TikToker, entrepreneur and former Bravo star Bethenny Frankel — found themselves penalized or kicked out entirely after their initial posts on the Chinese app. According to various reports from TikTok users, these bans were due to various reasons.
Some were penalized because their videos featured the TikTok watermark, which apparently can be a problem in RedNote, they said.
Others talked about or shared screenshots of their account suspension notices saying they were banned violation of the Xiaohongshu Community Guidelines. Some of these incidents involved verification issues, user reports said. When the newcomers was attempted to verify their accounts using their US-based phone number (an option that was available in the app); they did not receive their passwords so they tried again many times. This activity led to an account suspensions possibly due to suspicious bot activity.
However, some suspensions have no obvious explanation.
For example, a TikTok user claims their account was frozen after their first post, which was a picture of cinnamon rolls. Other he joked they must have been banned because they “like too many thirst traps”. While TechCrunch has not independently confirmed or verified the reason behind each reported ban, there are several complaints from TikTok users that suggest it’s a real problem people are facing.
Part of the problem is that users sign up for the app but can’t read the Community Guidelines, which are written in Mandarin. (Although there is a way to change the language to English in RedNote’s app, it’s hard to know how to find that option as an English speaker, as it requires navigating through the app’s settings.)
Several TikTok creators have said they are trying recourse to their bansbut it is not clear what these efforts will yield.
Meanwhile, every other app that competes with TikTok is making a play for its users, though creators will likely return to apps run by Meta and Google given the need to monetize their followers at scale.
