Douyin, the Chinese equivalent of TikTok, is very different and "much more pro-social," NYU professor Jonathan Haidt told Business Insider in Davos.

In his first few days back in office, President Trump is talking about TikTok entirely as a deal making exercise, dropping all of his previously expressed concerns about Chinese influence and American national security.

Unlike TikTok, RedNote primarily operates in China. As a result, concerns over content censorship, data privacy, and CCP control are even greater.

After years of rejecting the idea of a sale of TikTok’s US assets to an American buyer in order to avert a ban, China and ByteDance may have found an owner they could live with: Elon Musk.

As the debate around social media governance evolves with TikTok continuing to face criticism and restrictions, here's list of countries that have imposed restrictions on the app.

China's foreign ministry said on Monday companies should "decide independently" on matters of their operations and deals, responding to a question about U.S. President-elect Donald Trump proposing a 50% U.

State media hailed RedNote's success among American "TikTok refugees" as a repudiation of U.S. government "demonizing" of China's development.

After the bipartisan TikTok law was signed by former President Joe Biden in April, ByteDance said it did not have plans to sell the platform and fought the statute in court for months. China also rebuked Washington over the divestment push, though more recently it appears to be softening its stance.

TikTok was banned in the U.S. due to national security concerns over its Chinese ownership, prompting federal action requiring ByteDance to divest. Despite delays in enforcement, the app remains unavailable in US app stores until a sale to a U.

Jimmy Donaldson — better known online as MrBeast — isn’t in the TikTok bidding race just yet, according to a representative for the YouTube star. Donaldson stirred interest in a Jan. 13 post on X saying he’d “buy TikTok so it doesn’t get banned.

But don’t be misled by the aggrieved tone of this commentary. China’s leaders must be quietly satisfied with Mr Trump’s start. The new president did not impose fresh tariffs on day one, as some in Beijing had feared. China’s currency did not weaken. And though the Chinese stockmarket wobbled, it did not plunge.