The Washington Post is promoting “alternatives” to communist Chinese government-tied TikTok as the Biden-era ultimatum looms, but the “alternatives” appear to have the same issues.
In the event that TikTok does go dark, The Post listed eight possible “alternative apps” for TikTok users to turn to in a piece published Jan. 14. Disturbingly, its number one recommendation is “TikTok clone Lemon8,” which on Monday hit No. 1 in the Apple App Store’s “lifestyle” category. The Post’s second recommendation was “RedNote,” which is “hugely popular in China.” Both of the apps that The Post is promoting are Chinese owned and have ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government. It is also significant that The Post, while it did promote Meta’s Instagram as a good alternative to TikTok, has in different articles been critical of Meta for moving in a pro-free speech direction.
With the federal government’s TikTok ultimatum slated to take effect on Jan. 19, many TikTok users are looking for alternatives. But The Post’s top two recommendations are both Chinese apps, thus missing the entire point of the ultimatum. Lemon8’s national security risk is obvious, as even The Post admits it is owned by the same Chinese company that has an ownership stake in TikTok — ByteDance! The CCP government owns a board seat and a financial stake in ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company.
The problem here is clear, but leftist Washington Post apparently doesn’t see it. Experts told MRC Free Speech America back in 2023 that the CCP can use TikTok to influence Americans and access user data. The same risks would seem to be at play with Lemon8.
Similarly, the New York Post reported that RedNote raised over $900 million from companies that include Tencent and Alibaba. Not only does the CCP require Chinese businesses to incorporate its “core socialist values,” but, according to Markets Insider, the CCP government bought enough Tencent and Alibaba shares that it now has rights over certain important company decisions. In other words, RedNote — or, as the New York Post explained, the literal translation of the app name, “little red book” — would seem to have the same national security risks that TikTok and Lemon8 have through their ties with ByteDance. Just like the other two apps, RedNote is required to uphold socialist values, and it receives money from companies that are tied to the communist Chinese government.
But The Post is wrong regularly about trustworthy social media. While it promoted Meta’s Instagram toward the bottom of its list of TikTok alternatives, it has recently criticized the American company for pulling back from censorship. In one piece, The Post asserted that Meta replacing its fact-checking program “bodes ill for truth online.” In another post, on Jan. 8, The Post condescendingly advised Meta users on how they “can avoid falling for misinformation.” And now the outlet is promoting communist Chinese government-tied apps.
This begs the question: why would The Post prominently promote apps which have the same national security risks and dangers that TikTok does?
Conservatives are under attack. Contact TikTok via email at communitymanager@tiktok.com and demand Big Tech be held to account to mirror the First Amendment and provide transparency. If you have been censored, contact us at the Media Research Center contact form, and help us hold Big Tech accountable.
