What we know about the TikTok ban

Welcome back to Week in Review. This week, we look at the consequences of the TikTok ban in the US, including “TikTok refugees” moving to the Chinese app RedNote, the number of English speakers learning Mandarin on Duolingo, and more! Let’s get into it.

The Supreme Court upheld the law that will do effectively ban TikTok tomorrow. The decision marks the end of TikTok’s month-long fight against a law that forces the app to shut down unless it abandons its US operations. Starting Sunday, it will be illegal for app stores and online services to distribute TikTok. The company warned that the app would “go dark” on Sunday, but it’s unclear what will happen when the ban goes into effect.

American users are flocking to RedNotea A program of Chinese short films also known as Xiaohongshu, making it the No. 1 free software. 1 on the US App Store. RedNote hits a lot of the right notes for creators looking for an alternative to TikTok: It has a similar interface to Pinterest, is often thought of as China’s answer to Instagram, and has a number of social media features. But change it was not easy for some people.

TikTok users are using Duolingo to learn Chinese more and more in their adoption of RedNote before the TikTok ban. According to Duolingo, the program has seen about 216% growth in new Mandarin students in the US compared to this time last year, with a significant increase in mid-January when the launch of RedNote began.

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Story

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