New users have piled in to Chinese social media app RedNote just days before a proposed U.S. ban on the popular social media app TikTok, as the lesser-known company rushes to capitalize on the sudden influx while walking a delicate line of moderating English-language content, sources told Reuters.

In a live chat dubbed “TikTok Refugees” on RedNote on Monday, more than 50,000 American and Chinese users joined the room.

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Veteran Chinese users, with some sense of bewilderment, welcomed their American counterparts and swapped notes with them on topics like food and youth unemployment.

Such impromptu cultural exchanges were taking place all across RedNote, known in China as Xiaohongshu, as the app surged to the top of U.S. download rankings this week. Its popularity was driven by American social media users casting about for an alternative to ByteDance-owned TikTok days ahead of its looming ban.

Despite the uncertainty, users are embracing the new platform.

"As I sit here and record this video with everyone staring at me, it's OK, because I'm one of the TikTok refugees and I'm used to this," said a user named Crystal, who declined to give her last name, in a RedNote post.

Many users are treating the potential switch as a form of protest. TikTok content creator Gwenna Laithland sees the move to RedNote as a way for Americans to voice their discontent.

"We, as an American public, feel so very silenced and ignored that this right here is our opportunity to really just shove a middle finger up in the air and go, 'No! No, we don't like this! You didn't listen to us!'" she said.

However, Laithland also expressed skepticism about RedNote's long-term appeal.

"The newness will wear off once we're all sort of bored holding up that middle finger to the government. We'll wander off, but for now, I'm just sort of hanging out, consuming," she added.

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Public sentiment seems divided on the potential ban of TikTok.

Some users, like New York resident Jasmine McBride, would welcome a complete ban of social media, arguing that platforms like TikTok have led to "brain rot." Others, like Canadian singer-songwriter Jade LeMac, are still in disbelief about the potential ban and plan to continue their creative work on other platforms if necessary.

The looming question of data privacy and the potential misuse of user data by foreign governments also came into play.

Ambika Gaur, a 22-year-old New York City resident, said, "I think my generation's kind of just of the opinion of like, 'Oh, we have a Chinese agent on the other side, like, hey!' I mean, I don't really think about it that much when I'm using the app just because there's so much stuff online and I feel like you have such a digital presence."

In only two days, more than 700,000 new users joined Xiaohongshu, a person close to the company told Reuters. Xiaohongshu did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

U.S. downloads of RedNote were up more than 200% year-over-year this week, and 194% from the week prior, according to estimates from app data research firm Sensor Tower.

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The second most-popular free app on Apple's App Store list on Tuesday (January 14), Lemon8, another social media app owned by ByteDance, experienced a similar surge last month, with downloads jumping by 190% in December to about 3.4 million.

The influx appeared to catch RedNote by surprise, with two sources familiar with the company telling Reuters they were scrambling to find ways to moderate English-language content and build English-Chinese translation tools.

RedNote maintains only one version of its app, rather than splitting it into overseas and domestic apps - a rarity among Chinese social apps that are subject to domestic moderation rules.

Still, the company is keen to mine the sudden rush of attention, as executives see it as a potential path to achieve global popularity similar to TikTok's.

RedNote, a venture capital-backed startup with a most recent valuation of $17 billion, allows users to curate photos, videos and text documenting their lives. It has been viewed as a possible IPO candidate in China.

In recent years, it has become a de facto search engine for its 300 million-plus users looking for travel tips, anti-aging creams and restaurant recommendations.

The share prices of some China-listed companies that conduct businesses with RedNote, such as Hangzhou Onechance Tech Corp, surged as much as 20% on Tuesday, hitting the daily limit.

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The spike in U.S. users comes ahead of a Jan. 19 deadline for ByteDance to sell TikTok or face a ban in the U.S. on national security grounds.

TikTok is currently used by about 170 million Americans, roughly half of the country’s population, and is overwhelmingly popular with young people and the advertisers looking to reach them.

(Production: Justin Nathanson, Soren Larson, Alicia Powell, Deniz Uyar, Inaki Malvido, Roselle Chen)