Was the January 2025 TikTok ban for American citizens really helpful to national security? On January 18, 2025 the United States government put in place a law that banned the social media app TikTok.
The ban lasted less than 24 hours but prior to the time that it was deactivated on their phones, American citizens already had other plans.
Leading up to the ban, Americans across the country decided that they would find a replacement for the app in the event it was banned. They began migrating to another Chinese social networking platform called RedNote.
RedNote is a social media app released in 2013 that is similar to TikTok. It provides a feed where users can watch videos and allows them to post their own. It is interactive by letting users comment on videos and chat with other users.
The US government removed TikTok from the app store because of the fear that the Chinese government was using the app as a way to retain information on the USA. This then led to the increased usage of another app that is possibly less secure.
“User data collected by RedNote will be stored in China, whereas TikTok’s user data is stored outside of China,” said Angela Zhang, a professor of law at the University of Southern California who specializes in the study of Chinese tech.
Outside of RedNote, other China based apps are taking over the USA. DeepSeek, an artificial intelligence assistant, is currently in the top ten apps downloaded from the app store. A few weeks ago, it was at the number one spot ahead of ChatGPT.
DeepSeek leads global standards and matches top-tier international AI models. The app collects any information that a user provides, automatically collected information, and information that is from other sources.
DeepSeek and ChatGPT are currently the most used AI apps and are competing for the top spot on the chart. The apps are very similar in ways that they are set up and retain information.
Currently, New York, Texas and Virginia have banned DeepSeek from being used on state government-owned devices. It is speculated that the app is being used to take data from US citizens.
Apps have been banned across the country, as officials speculate that they are secretly being used to retain information on the USA. Whether they are based in China or the USA, they are still thought to pose a threat.
Even after being banned, US citizens are finding other alternatives to the apps that are so loved across the country. The government is attempting to remove apps that are seen as a danger and people are going to less secure apps.
Security does not seem to be a priority for a mass of US citizens. They will find ways to keep their routine the same with alternatives to what is missing from their everyday lives.