“It's only been a day and China's already sick of the migrators” — Internet reacts as RedNote allegedly divides servers into mainland and foreigner 

As the TikTok ban approaches, netizens are shifting to RedNote, also known as Xiaohongshu, a Chinese social media app.

According to Yahoo News's report on January 16, the app is a combination of Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest. The short-form video app is currently the top free app in the Apple Store, and more than 700,000 users have joined it.

As the netizens were openly interacting with each other, a netizen (@pipkinpippa) posted a rumor on X, sharing that the app RedNote would allegedly separate the users by creating a different server for foreigners next week.

The tweet went viral, and a netizen (@Patbacknitro) wrote,

"It's only been a day and China's already sick of the migrators. And the migrators will still be oblivious to that."

Netizen shares their thought on RedNote separating Chinese users from foreign users. [Image via X/@Patbacknitro]

After seeing the rumor, many netizens expressed that they enjoy interacting with Chinese netizens, calling them "pretty nice" and "welcoming and sweet."

"I still Find it IMMENSLY hilarious That the American GenZ basically Blew the BIGGEST hole Into Chinas Great Firewall. Basically out of Pure Pettyness Towards their OWN government. Then to Only Also to realize that the avarage chinese people are actually pretty nice," one netizen wrote.

"Why does the Internet have to kill off everything that is good? We really can never have nice things," another user wrote.

"why can't they let us just talk to each other? They have been so welcoming and sweet, and we're learning about each other and showing each other our cats. I hate this so much," another netizen shared.

Other netizens said the separation of servers made sense as China allegedly doesn't want its citizens to interact with Americans. Some said creating different servers is a "smart move."

"Not really surprised. China sure as hell not letting all that tiktok brainrot into that country. Especially all that videos of kids trashing their school bathrooms," one X user wrote.

"That's honestly such a smart move on China's part, Americans would eventually start to expose China lies to the population and it would cause a lot of turmoil and censoring," said one X user.

"Of course they will, they don't want the social contagion of "woke" that they have helped to cultivate in the west to spread to them, nor do they want the free exchange of ideas from more right leaning foreigners," another netizen wrote.

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TikTok users move to RedNote: Why is TikTok getting banned in the US?

TikTok - RedNote (Image via Getty)

According to The New York Times (published January 10), lawmakers and regulators have long been concerned that TikTok and its parent company ByteDance allegedly sold American citizens' data to the Chinese government. They also speculated that China could spread misinformation using the app's content recommendations. TikTok denied the accusations.

In April 2024, President Joe Biden signed legislation that said ByteDance had to sell TikTok within nine months or the app would be banned. Soon after TikTok's CEO Shou Zi Chew responded in a TikTok video in April 2024:

"We are confident, and we will keep fighting for your rights in the courts. The facts and the Constitution are on our side, and we expect to prevail."

TikTok is speculated to be banned in the US on January 19, 2025. Users quickly shifted to the popular Chinese social media app Xiaohongshu, or RedNote, in English. American users on the app are now jokingly called "TikTok refugees."

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The American users interacted with Chinese users by sharing memes, doing their homework, and asking questions about their country.

As the news of RedNote allegedly creating a different server for foreigners spread, most American users are saying they will miss the Chinese netizens.