“It’s not a foregone conclusion that RedNote will suddenly enjoy TikTok’s success and popularity,” Gorman said. “Actually gaining the traction TikTok has is rare. And the size of the national security threat is really proportional to the size of the user base.”

TikTok could be banned in the US, rendering the app unusable and removing it from app stores. Instead of making do with Instagram Reels, people looked for a closer alternative and found Chinese social media app "RedNote" or Xiaohongshu,

Millions are joining RedNote ahead of the TikTok ban. But the app’s default language is Mandarin. “Oh so NOW you’re learning mandarin,” Duolingo tweeted on Monday.