Lemon8, Bytedance's photo-sharing app, and RedNote, a content-sharing platform based in Shanghai, have observed increase in popularity in the US, where “TikTok refugees” are migrating to alternative platforms ahead of a potential ban.
Now a law that could shut down TikTok in the U.S. threatens to ensnare these Chinese social media apps, with others gaining popularity as alternatives to TikTok, legal experts say.
From Wednesday, RedNote – known in China as Xiaohongshu — was the most popular free app in the US iOS store, with Lemon8 taking second place.
The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to rule on the constitutionality of the law Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary-Controlled Apps Actor PAFACA, which would lead to a ban of the TikTok app in the US if its Beijing-based owner ByteDance does not sell it by January 19.
While the legislation specifically mentions 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 U.S. policy 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 replacements to come from China without some form of divestment, experts told CNBC.
PAFACA automatically applies to Lemon8 because 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 regulations prohibit the distribution, maintenance or provision of Internet hosting services for any “foreign adversary-controlled applications.”
These apps include those associated with ByteDance, TikTok or a social media company controlled by a “foreign adversary” and deemed to pose a significant threat to national security.
The wording of the regulations is “pretty expansive” and would give new President Donald Trump the latitude to decide which entities pose a significant threat to national security, said Carl Tobias, Williams Chair in Law at the University of Richmond.
Xiaomeng Lu, director of geotechnology at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, told CNBC that the law will likely prevail even if its implementation and enforcement delays. Regardless, Chinese applications in the U.S. are expected to continue to be subject to increased regulatory action.
“The TikTok case has set a new precedent for Chinese apps to be targeted and potentially shut down,” Lu said.
She added that there are other Chinese apps that may be affected increased control this year they include popular Chinese e-commerce platform Temu and Shein. U.S. officials have accused the apps of posing a risk to dataallegations similar to those overlaid on TikTok.
TikTok's fate depends on the Supreme Court, after the platform and its parent company filed lawsuit against the U.S. government, claiming that invoking PAFACA violated constitutional protections for free speech.
TikTok argues that the law is unconstitutional as it specifically applies to them, not that it is unconstitutional per se, said Cornell law professor Gautam Hans. “So whether TikTok wins or loses, the law will still be able to apply to other companies,” he said.
Hans said the law's scope is broad enough to apply to a variety of Chinese apps considered a threat to national security, beyond traditional social media apps like TikTok.
Meanwhile, Trump did it – urged the United States Supreme Court to delay the implementation of PAFACA so that they can adopt a “political solution” once they take office. Democratic lawmakers have also urged Congress and President Joe Biden to do so extend the deadline to January 19.