Lemon8, a photo-sharing app from Bytedance, and RedNote, a Shanghai-based content-sharing platform, have seen a surge in popularity in the US as “TikTok refugees” migrate to alternative platforms ahead of a possible ban.Â
Now a law that could shut down TikTok in the U.S. threatens to trap these Chinese social media apps and others that are gaining traction 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.Â
The US Supreme Court will rule on the constitutionality of the Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act, or PAFACA, which would lead to a ban on the TikTok app in the US if its Beijing-based owner, ByteDance does not distribute it. until January 19.
While the legislation explicitly names TikTok and ByteDance, experts say its scope is broad and could open the door for Washington to target other Chinese apps.
“Chinese social media apps, including Lemon8 and RedNote, could also end up being 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, it’s unlikely the law would allow potential replacements to come from 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.Â
The legislation prohibits the distribution, maintenance or provision of Internet hosting services for any “application controlled by a foreign adversary.”
These apps include those linked to ByteDance or TikTok or a social media company that is controlled by a “foreign adversary” and has been determined to pose a significant threat to national security.
The legislation’s wording 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, Williams law professor at the University of Richmond.
Xiaomeng Lu, director of geo-technology at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, told CNBC that the law is likely to prevail, even if its implementation and enforcement are delayed. Regardless, it expects Chinese apps in the US to continue to be subject to increased regulatory action moving 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 that could be affected by increased scrutiny this year include popular Chinese e-commerce platform Temu and Shein. US officials have accused the apps of posing data risks, charges similar to those leveled against TikTok.
TikTok’s fate rests with the Supreme Court after the platform and its parent company filed a lawsuit against the US government, saying that PAFACA’s invocation violated constitutional protections of free speech.
TikTok’s argument is that the law is unconstitutional as 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 can still apply to other companies,” he said
The defined scope of the law is broad enough that it could apply to a range of Chinese apps that are considered a threat to national security, beyond traditional social media apps in the form of TikTok, Hans said.
Meanwhile, Trump has asked the US Supreme Court to stay PAFACA so he can pursue a “political resolution” after taking office. Democratic lawmakers have also asked Congress and President Joe Biden to extend the January 19 deadline.
