Man Named Mao Who Started Chinese App Called "Little Red Book" Was Actually Inspired by Stanford University and Mitt Romney

As the United States edges ever closer to a TikTok ban, Americans are doing exactly what Congress hoped they wouldn't: flocking to other Chinese-owned alternatives.

A law signed by president Joe Biden last year would force TikTok to either sell its US operations or be banned by January 19, which is this upcoming Sunday. The latter is looking increasingly likely as China has appeared staunchly opposed to a sale and the Supreme Court seems likely to uphold the law.

An app called Xiaohongshu in particular has attracted a huge wave of "TikTok refugees."

The platform is largely known as RedNote, but literally translates to "Little Red Book" — a historically laden phrase in China, where that was the title of a book of quotations by People's Republic China founder and longtime leader Mao Zedong.

Coincidentally, the app was founded by another Mao, this one named Mao Wenchao. And as for the name, the Washington Post reports, the app's founder has maintained that the app is apolitical, with its red color palette reportedly inspired by the colors of the Stanford Business School he attended and the consulting firm Bain & Company, founded by now-retired Republican politician Mitt Romney, where Wenchao interned.

In other words, the app might sound like a nationalist paean to China's Communist Party and its founder — but the official story is that it's the exact opposite: a tribute to icons of American capitalism and the explosive growth of Silicon Valley platforms.

Put simply, RedNote sounds more Pinterest than Truth Social. It's "really all about eating, drinking, and being merry," University of Cyberjaya, Malaysia, researcher Ying Yin told the newspaper.

The whole thing is ironic given the TikTok ban was born out of widespread anti-Chinese sentiment, with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agreeing that the app's owner ByteDance could easily spread propaganda in the US and potentially access sensitive data — but driving users straight toward other Chinese apps instead, like RedNote, which almost certainly has stronger ties to China's communist regime than TikTok's, whose global headquarters are in Los Angeles and Singapore.

How that influx will play out is anyone's guess. Chinese internet censorship rules apply on RedNote, with likely tight controls over what kind of content is allowed on the platform.

"It won’t be like Facebook and Instagram," Yin told WaPo. "There are lots of topics that are banned on the platform, even things like health care and finance."

According to a leaked database by California-based news site China Digital Times, a whopping 546 nicknames for Chinese leader Xi Jinping, including "Foreskin Xi," "Xissolini," and "The Devil Mao Incarnate," are banned from the app.

Meanwhile, with a ban looming on the horizon, many of TikTok's longtime American users are frustrated with their government, joining alternatives like RedNote out of spite.

They're also largely unafraid of overstepping boundaries or getting caught up in China's censorship machine.

"I don't have anything that China doesn't, and if they want my data that bad they can have it," 37-year-old Utah native Sarah Fotheringham told the BBC via a RedNote message. "I'm just a simple person living a simple life."

Whether RedNote will catch on and become a viable TikTok alternative in the US remains to be seen. For one, much of the rest of the world will continue to have unfettered access to the video-sharing app.

President-elect Donald Trump, who will be sworn in a day after the ban goes into effect, has also opposed the ban (despite unsuccessfully pushing for a separate ban a mere four years ago.)

Many questions remain unanswered: will RedNote be held to the same anti-Chinese standards as TikTok? Could TikTok really be sold to X owner Elon Musk, as Bloomberg's sources suggested earlier this week?

For now, a fascinating cultural exchange is taking place, with "TikTok refugees" learning about life in the world's second most populous nation and even getting taught some basic Mandarin by the app's native users.

"I am now able to see things I never would have seen," Fotheringham told the BBC. "Regular Chinese people, finding out about their culture, life, school, everything, it has been so much fun."

More on the app: TikTok Users Looking to Spite US Government Find Warm Welcome on Chinese App