Lemon8, a photo-sharing app from Bytedance, and RedNote, a content-sharing platform based in Shanghai, saw rise in popularity in the US as “TikTok refugees” migrate to alternative platforms ahead of a possible ban.
Now a law that could shut down TikTok in the U.S. threatens to ensnare these Chinese social media apps, and others are gaining popularity as TikTok alternatives, legal experts say.
As of Wednesday, RedNote — known as Xiaohongshu in China — was the top free app in the US iOS store, with Lemon8 taking second place.
The US Supreme Court should decide on the constitutionality The Protecting Americans from Apps Controlled by a Foreign Enemy Actor PAFACA, which would lead to a ban on the TikTok app in the US if its Beijing-based owner, ByteDance, is not released by January 19.
While the bill specifically names TikTok and ByteDance, experts say its scope is broad and could open the door for Washington to target additional Chinese apps.
“Chinese social media apps, including Lemon8 and RedNote, could also be banned under this law,” Tobin Marcus, head of US politics and policy at New York-based research firm Wolfe Research, told CNBC.
If the TikTok ban is upheld, the law is unlikely to allow potential substitutes to originate in China without some form of sale, experts told CNBC.
PAFACA automatically applies to Lemon8 since it is a subsidiary of ByteDance, while RedNote could fall under the law if its average monthly user base in the U.S. continues to grow, Marcus said.
The law prohibits the distribution, maintenance or provision of Internet hosting services to any “application controlled by a foreign adversary.”
Those apps include those linked to ByteDance or TikTok or a social media company controlled by a “foreign adversary” that has been determined to pose a significant threat to national security.
The bill’s text is “quite broad” and would give President-elect Donald Trump room to decide which entities pose a significant threat to national security, said Carl Tobias, the Williams Chair of Law at the University of Richmond.
Xiaomeng Lu, director of geotechnology at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, told CNBC that the bill is likely to prevail, even if its implementation and enforcement is delayed. Regardless, she expects Chinese apps in the US to continue to be subject to increased regulatory action going forward.
“The TikTok case has set a new precedent for Chinese apps to be targeted and potentially shut down,” Lu said.
She added that other Chinese apps could be affected increased surveillance this year they include the popular Chinese e-commerce platform Temu and Shein. US officials have accused the apps of represent data risksstates similar to those charged to TikTok.
TikTok’s fate rests with the Supreme Court after the platform and its parent company filed filed a lawsuit against the US government, claiming that invoking PAFACA violated constitutional protections for free speech.
TikTok’s argument is that the law is unconstitutional if it specifically applies to them, not that it’s unconstitutional per se, said Cornell law professor Gautam Hans. “So whether TikTok wins or loses, the law could potentially apply to other companies,” he said.
The scope defined by the law is broad enough to apply to a variety of Chinese apps deemed a threat to national security, beyond traditional social media apps in the mold of TikTok, Hans said.
Trump, meanwhile the US Supreme Court called delay implementation of PAFACA so he can pursue a “political solution” after taking office. Democratic lawmakers also urged Congress and President Joe Biden to extend the deadline until January 19.
