U.S. TikTok users who once saw the app as a haven for free speech say they see signs of censorship after the platform, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, was returned by an executive order from President Donald Trump.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and TikTok’s CEO Shou ZI Chew both attended the inauguration, alongside former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, the first tech boss to hitch his wagon to Trump.

As self-described " TikTok refugees" pour onto the Chinese social media app RedNote, also known as Xiaohongshu, some foreign netizens are already running up against the country's extensive censorship apparatus. Newsweek reached out to Xiaohongshu with a request for comment via a general contact email address.

In a historic development, Chinese-owned social media platform TikTok has become the center of a bipartisan bill to ban the app nationwide in the name of national security. Xiao Qiang, a research scientist at the UC Berkeley School of Information and a prominent scholar in the study of state censorship,

TikTok isn’t the villain here. It’s a symptom of a much larger issue: the lack of clear, enforceable rules for data privacy and security. Instead of banning the app, the government should focus on fixing the system.

China’s internet companies and their hard-working, resourceful professionals make world-class products, in spite of censorship and malign neglect by Beijing.

After a US law temporarily forced Americans to find a new home for their short-video habit, TikTok clone Likee saw a surge in usage.

President Donald Trump's flurry of day-one actions included a reprieve for TikTok, the creation of a Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an order on social media "censorship," a declaration of an energy emergency, and reversal of a Biden order on artificial intelligence.

Millions are turning to RedNote, a Chinese social media app, as its resemblance to TikTok appeals to users. But dig a little deeper, and the reality becomes far more insidious.

The term ‘cute winter boots’ has confused a lot of users on TikTok, as countless videos referencing it have been going viral.