On the morning of 19 January, TikTok went offline across the United States. While it remained down for only twelve hours, the event sparked a surprising cross-cultural exchange that left the US liberal establishment both bemused and alarmed.
In the lead up to the ban, over three million Americans left TikTok and moved to the Chinese app Xiaohongshu, better known as RedNote.
The irony was hard to miss: a ban intended to limit the influence of Chinese capitalism inadvertently drove Americans to another Chinese app.
Whilst Trump temporarily halted the ban – for his own reasons – at some point he will likely either force a sale of TikTok or reinstate it. At the end of the day, the ruling class cares little for ‘free’ press, and will stifle it whenever it suits them.
Fraternisation
For many of the new American users, the cultural exchange with the Chinese users was eye-opening.
Discussions quickly turned to the long hours and low pay of American workers, as well as the hypocrisy of the supposedly democratic US government banning one of the world’s largest media platforms on a whim.
Americans are keenly aware of their declining quality of life, with stagnating wages and skyrocketing rents. Chinese users asked: ‘Is it true that Americans have to pay for ambulances?’
Many users were surprised at how many posts there were celebrating Luigi Mangione – who has become a folk hero for his alleged shooting of a CEO last year. In the comments, American and Chinese youth alike shared their support for him.
Luigi Mangione is beloved on RedNote pic.twitter.com/Lrr1A40CLt
— Alyssa Mercante (@alyssa_merc) January 14, 2025
Clearly, the class hatred in the US that was expressed in the mass support for Mangione, particularly amongst youth, is one that is shared by their Chinese counterparts.
Taken aback by these alarming developments, the bosses’ media was quick to respond. Fearmongering articles decrying Chinese censorship popped up everywhere, conveniently ignoring why the Americans had flocked to RedNote in the first place.
Some even went as far as to warn that expressing support for Magione on social media could now land Americans on a government watchlist! But this did little to deter Americans from using the app.
Class solidarity
What emerged was a series of discussions about socialism versus capitalism, with the American visitors expressing their anger at the poverty and exploitation of capitalist society.
Gone are the days of McCarthy-era witch hunts; today, more Americans than ever are willing to hear about communism.
All of the lofty rhetoric peddled by the liberal establishment about the ‘land of the free’ is being starkly contrasted with the relative decline of US capitalism, and the growing class hatred of the workers and youth when confronted with their own suffering and broken system.
As brief a moment as this was, it expressed a deeper truth, that workers across the world have far more in common with each other than with their own ruling classes. And that there is a growing anger towards the capitalist system and all the horrors that it brings.
This isn’t limited to the USA, or China, but to the whole world – as shown by a recent Channel 4 poll that found that half of young people in Britain want a revolution.
As one Chinese RedNote user put it, “U guys don’t need a new app, u guys need a revolution.”
We couldn’t agree more.
