I'm old enough to remember when progressives and a lot of journalists were saying their final goodbyes on Twitter after it was purchased by Elon Musk and moving over to Mastodon. That doesn't seem to have stuck, and now all of the liberals are on Bluesky. And then there's TikTok. As we reported earlier, TikTok has threatened to go dark on Sunday. I don't care — I don't have anything to do with TikTok aside from whatever Libs of TikTok posts. But it seems that President Trump will give TikTok a 90-day reprieve to sell to a country that's not an enemy of the United States.
Those who fear TikTok going dark have all moved over to what tech journalist Taylor Lorenz called "the hottest new social app in America!" — REDNote, also known as Xiaohongshu or, appropriately, Little Red Book. Lorenz already has her REDNote account up and running. One person said banning TikTok is going to backfire, because REDNote shows "a completely different view of China" and that "it’s obvious China is the new world." Well sure it looks that way, because it's censored by the CCP.
It's not surprising that people who took to the Chinese-owned TikTok would have no qualms moving over to another Chinese social media platform, Xiaohongshu.
As we reported earlier, United States Air Force C-17 pilot Emily Barkemeyer has been posting a lot of videos from work on REDNote. Byron Wan has been looking into it, and has found a few U.S. military who are posting videos of our military hardware to REDNote. Hillary Clinton should be in prison for mishandling classified information, but it was Petty Officer First Class Kristian Saucier who was sent to prison for having six photos of the propulsion system of the U.S.S. Alexandria, a submarine.
It's apparently OK to post videos to a Chinese spyware app, though. Check out these videos:
Another American TikTok refugee, possibly from 🇺🇸 USAF, posted these videos on 🇨🇳 Xiaohongshu (小红书 / Little Red Book / REDnote)… pic.twitter.com/DqixHZVXPx
— Byron Wan (@Byron_Wan) January 18, 2025
Another TikTok refugee posted this video on 🇨🇳 Xiaohongshu (小红书 / Little Red Book / REDnote) a couple of days ago and soon afterwards a Chinese netizen identified the F-16 as one assigned to the 480th Fighter Squadron at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany…
— Byron Wan (@Byron_Wan) January 18, 2025
🤔 pic.twitter.com/wP96cvCuZU
This 🇺🇸 US Army Staff Sergeant — another TikTok refugee — posted these videos on 🇨🇳 Xiaohongshu (小红书 / Little Red Book / RedNote)…
— Byron Wan (@Byron_Wan) January 17, 2025
🤔 pic.twitter.com/5cJodnMyYB
This American TikTok refugee posted these videos on 🇨🇳 Xiaohongshu (小红书 / Little Red Book / RedNote)…
— Byron Wan (@Byron_Wan) January 17, 2025
🤔 pic.twitter.com/EQiwKLYy15
Seriously? Why are members of the U.S. military posting videos to a CCP-run social media network?
I don't see how that's not a violation of national security OPSEC.
— 🇺🇸 America's Great (@Gunalizer) January 18, 2025
The best part is the app is probably pulling GPS and geocache data along with contact lists, key logging, and access to photo albums.
— kumapilot (@kumapilotrc) January 18, 2025
OPSEC still a thing @USNavy ?
— Bruce 🇺🇸 (@Skeeeter6) January 18, 2025
You gotta be kidding me right…? 🤦♂️
— KJ (@kung_jook) January 18, 2025
I have virtually no followers on X, which is fine because I never post on X. But what is this compulsion with downloading the hottest new app in America and uploading videos? I don't understand it. President Joe Biden thought TikTok was a national security risk, and now everyone is migrating to an alternative that's even worse.
The military should just ban using that platform. I work in big tech and we did and strictly enforced it.
— Jmilton 🇺🇸 🇺🇦 🇮🇱 (@Jmilton88712952) January 18, 2025
Kristian Saucier was sentenced to one year in prison for having photos on his phone but was pardoned by President Trump. Where's the punishment for these sailors?
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