Following an executive order from President Donald Trump, U.S. TikTok users are reportedly seeing signs of increased censorship on the app, once seen as a free-speech haven. After going offline for a brief period due to new laws aimed at addressing national security concerns,

As self-described " TikTok refugees" pour onto the Chinese social media app RedNote, also known as Xiaohongshu, some foreign netizens are already running up against the country's extensive censorship apparatus. Newsweek reached out to Xiaohongshu with a request for comment via a general contact email address.

TikTok has fought the ban, most recently before the Supreme Court. Free-speech advocates contend that the ban would violate First Amendment rights. But the justices sided with the government on January 17,

Second, however, TikTok does present a danger. But it’s the same danger all the social media platforms present: they collect large amounts of personal data from users, including teens. (Some call TikTok's collection excessive.) But this is a story we’ve heard over and over.  They monetize invasive information for advertisers, no matter the danger.

The Supreme Court upheld a law that requires TikTok's Chinese owner to sell off the app's U.S. business or face a nationwide ban Sunday.

"It’s a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship ... or updating TikTok in the United States. App Store management (including Apple and Google) will need to decide ...

With an American TikTok ban threatening the app, users and creators reflect on what it did for internet culture – and what their online worlds might look like without it.

Previously little-known Chinese startup DeepSeek has dominated headlines and app charts in recent days thanks to its new AI chatbot, which sparked a global tech sell-off that wiped billions off Silicon Valley’s biggest companies and shattered assumptions of America’s dominance of the tech race.

In the meantime, Biden's stated refusal to enforce the ban means that owners of U.S. smartphone app stores, such as Apple and Google, might decide to leave TikTok alone. In other words ...

The app had more than 170 million monthly users in the U.S. The black-out is the result of a law forcing the service offline unless it sheds its ties to ByteDance, its China-based parent company.

Google and Apple removed the app from their digital ... TikTok does not operate in China, where ByteDance instead offers Douyin, the Chinese sibling of TikTok that follows Beijing’s strict censorship rules. Under the law, mobile app stores are barred ...

The Google Play Store now includes a Verified badge for virtual private networks (VPNs) that meet its extensive criteria.