‘It’s a personal choice’: China dodges RedNote censorship issue as US TikTokkers migrate

Foreign ministry says it encourages and supports people-to-people exchanges

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RedNote, also known as Xiaohongshu, the Chinese equivalent of Instagram, has topped the list of most downloaded apps in the United States since Monday. Photo: AFP

Published: 6:51pm, 15 Jan 2025Updated: 9:13am, 16 Jan 2025

China stopped short on Wednesday of saying whether it would step up censorship of foreign content on RedNote, saying only that it supported “people-to-people exchanges”.

RedNote, the Chinese equivalent of Instagram, has topped the list of most downloaded apps in the United States since Monday, apparently driven by American TikTok users migrating ahead of a US ban on the short video service.

“We believe that no matter what platforms you use, it’s a personal choice and we encourage and support people-to-people exchanges,” ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said when asked whether China would “strengthen censorship on content by foreign users due to national security interests”.

A day earlier, Guo also refused to comment directly on the possibility of TikTok’s parent company ByteDance selling the app to US billionaire Elon Musk, saying the question was “hypothetical”.

“Let me say broadly that the US needs to earnestly respect the principles of the market economy and fair competition, and provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for companies doing business in the US,” Guo said.

The US Congress passed legislation banning TikTok in March amid concerns that the Chinese government could manipulate content and gain access to user data through the app.