DEEP DIVE - EPISODE 89 The Infiltration of Chinese Propaganda Apps Tiktok Ban
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In this episode, we dive deep into the digital world where foreign influence is seeping through social media apps, particularly Chinese platforms like TikTok and Xiaohongshu (RedNote). With the upcoming TikTok ban in the U.S., many Americans are flocking to alternatives, including Xiaohongshu, a Chinese-owned app that is quickly gaining popularity in the States.
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American users are flocking to the Chinese app Red Note as a potential alternative to TikTok amid the TikTok ban. This migration blurs the lines between American and Chinese digital spaces and is driven by factors such as curiosity about Chinese culture and lifestyle, lower cost of living, and frustration with the American system. To counter this digital influence, the National Defense Lab suggests a multi-pronged approach, including strengthening cybersecurity and promoting media literacy. The goal is to build a more resilient and informed citizenry that is less vulnerable to manipulation. Understanding the specifics of both TikTok and Red Note is key to understanding their appeal to users. Welcome to Deep Dive, a podcast brought to you by National Defense Lab. At National Defense Lab, we are at the forefront of innovative technologies and strategies to safeguard our nation and its people. Episode 89, The Infiltration of Chinese Propaganda Apps. How American users are flocking to Chinese platforms amidst the TikTok ban. Hey, everyone, and welcome back to another Deep Dive with us. It's great to be back. Today, we're diving into something that's been all over the news lately. Oh, yeah. The potential TikTok ban. Right. And this whole thing about American users flocking to another Chinese-owned app, Xiaohongshu. Ah, Xiaohongshu. Or as a lot of people are calling it, Red Note. We've got some really interesting sources to dig into today. Cool. First, an AP news article, a TikTok video that's been making the rounds, and this white paper from the National Defense Lab. Sounds like a lot to cover. It is. But basically, we want to figure out what's driving this whole migration to Red Note, what the app is all about, and what it all means for China's influence in the digital world. Right. So let's start with that AP news article. Okay. It gives us a pretty clear picture of what's going on, essentially with the U.S. government potentially banning TikTok. Because of those national security concerns. Right, exactly. Yeah. A lot of American users are like, okay, I'm out of here, and heading over to Red Note. Makes sense. And it's not just a random scattering of users, either. No. Some are specifically choosing Red Note because of the potential TikTok ban. Oh, wow. Almost like it's a form of protest. Interesting. Like they're saying, you can't tell me what to do. Right, right. It's a really interesting dynamic. And the article talks about how this whole thing is blurring the lines between American and Chinese digital spaces, which have always been pretty separate. Yeah, that's true. We don't usually see this level of interaction between users from the two countries. It's kind of unprecedented. It is. So to give you a better sense of what's driving this whole migration, we actually have a clip from a TikTok video. Oh, cool. It's by an American user who recently switched to Red Note. Let's take a listen. Four days on Red Note as we've gone through all the stages of grief. Right now, I think I'm sitting firmly in anger. Not at the Chinese or anything like that. They're fucking amazing. Their cities are amazing. Their people are amazing. Their lifestyle is amazing. Their fucking grocery bills are fucking amazingly small. I am fucking, dude, American exceptionalism is a lot. It's a fucking lot. This country, every day of our lives, it's just one big goddamn commercial. We fucking leech every fucking dime out of our pockets and every fucking spare second you have out of your day. And it's just nothing but a nonstop fucking hamster wheel. And as a goof, we go and protest by like, oh, you're going to fucking take away TikTok because the fucking Chinese are going to take our data? Well, we're going to fucking mail our social security card directly to Xi's fucking office. And then we start talking to these people and seeing how they live and then actually having direct message conversations with these new friends that are curious and excited about us. And they're like, oh, you know, tell us about what it's like in America. No offense, but when are you lazy? And all you do is hang out and go on vacations. And I'm like, vacations? What the fuck are you talking about? No, I mean, most people are working two, maybe three jobs just to fucking make ends meet. And then, you know, we start talking about what things cost. And they're like, yeah, dude, I mean, I go out to eat, it costs me, you know, whatever the fuck their money is called, Yuan, whatever it is. I don't know. And you do the math and you Google the exchange rate, you're like, hang on, that's like $1.90 for a meal. Like a sit down, $2 you spent on a fucking meal? Then, you know, you start scrolling through and you see the grocery haul and all this shit. And you can see the prices right there. And then, dude, fucking Google with the exchange rate. Dude, we already knew we were getting fucked, but we were getting fucking extra slam fucked. No lube, no permission, no consent. And we've been told our whole lives that these are evil people that fucking hate us. And they're backwards and they're slaves, working in sweatshops and living in gulags. And you would hate it over there. Don't even bother going over there. And, you know, honestly, to a lot of us Americans, we're fucking ignorant to the point we bought the fucking propaganda that was being sold to us our whole lives. I know hardly anyone that's ever even expressed interest in going to China with their rare vacation time and dollars. And then, all at once, tens of millions of us go over to this app as a lark, just to goof off. And we all got slapped in the face. I mean, dude, these skyscrapers and these cities, they're beautiful, they're clean. It looks like the goddamn future. I'm telling you, man, these people are living in the year 2325. We, I'm not even sure we're a first world country anymore, if you compare apples to apples. I mean, this place is fucking amazing. No, I'm not. Look, I know a bunch of y'all are already fucking clutching your pearls and you already got a fucking thumb up your own asshole. Oh, but America's the best thing in the world. You're anti-patriotic. You must hate America. Fucking commie. No, I'm just fucking stating what it is. I've seen with my own eyes, on a different platform, that we're just not fucking living. Not like the way other places in the world are fucking living. And we've got to get the fuck over ourselves and the nonsense that we've been told. Because this, this ain't it. This ain't fucking it, man. Something's got to change. It's got to change fast. I don't know how or who or where or when. Something has to change and I think everybody can feel it in the fucking air. Everybody's about to fucking snap. People were on the verge. And who the fuck thought that Xiao Hongzhu was going to fucking show us Our life is just one big shitty commercial on a hamster wheel. We're that Black Mirror episode where you live in that fucking pod and you look at the screen and you have to watch so many ads to get enough credits to eat. That's, that's us. Cheers to you. Welcome back. Before we really start comparing TikTok and Red Note, I think it's important to touch on what the National Defense Lab white paper says about, you know, the potential impact of this whole digital migration. Okay. It's not all doom and gloom. They actually offer some potential solutions, too. Okay, so what can we do to, like, counter this digital influence thing? Well, they suggest a multi-pronged approach. Multi-pronged, okay. Focusing on strengthening cybersecurity. Okay. Promoting media literacy. Uh-huh. And fostering a more resilient and informed citizenry. So it's like a combo of technological and educational solutions. Yeah, exactly. Okay. On the tech side, they're basically saying the U.S. government needs to invest more in cybersecurity. Right. To, like, protect against foreign interference. Exactly. It's kind of like building stronger walls around our digital infrastructure. Makes sense. But then there's the educational piece, too. Yeah, what's that all about? It's about giving people the tools to be more, well, media literate. Okay. They suggest things like incorporating media literacy education into school curriculums. Uh-huh. Teaching people how to spot biases, how to fact-check info, you know, things like that. So basically, teaching people not to believe everything they see online. Right, exactly. The idea is that if people are more media literate, they'll be less susceptible to, you know, propaganda and disinformation. No matter where it's coming from. Exactly. It's almost like giving people a compass. Yeah. You know, so they can navigate the online world more effectively. That's a great way to put it. And then was that last thing you mentioned, fostering a more? Resilient and informed citizenry. Right, right. Resilient. What does that even mean? Well, they argue that a strong democracy needs citizens who are informed, engaged, and able to think critically. Oh, okay. You know, people who can participate actively in civic life. Okay. This means being able to understand different perspectives, engage in respectful dialogue, and be willing to challenge misinformation. So it's not just about individual responsibility, but also about collective resilience, like as a society. Exactly. The White Paper argues that if we can build a society that values critical thinking and open dialogue, then we'll be less vulnerable to manipulation, you know, from outside forces. That makes sense. Yeah. Okay, so we've talked about the potential threat and some solutions. Right. Let's talk about TikTok and Red Note themselves. Yeah. What are they actually like? Right. How do they differ? And what makes Red Note so appealing, you know, to these American users? I think that's a great question. Yeah. And to answer it, we need to go back to that AP News article for a minute. Okay. And really dig into the specifics of these platforms. Let's do it. This is where things start to get really interesting. Yeah. Attention. Information in this one-minute message could save your life. Don't wait for the next emergency to happen. Act now to be prepared. Now more than ever, civilians and communities must communicate with family, friends, and neighbors in the event of civil unrest, natural disasters, or other emergencies. That's why there's CivilDispatch.com. CivilDispatch.com is a universal system that can be used for a wide array of urgent notification alerts, weather emergencies, civil unrest, emergency responders, AMBER alerts, school or business closing, any need-to-know situation. CivilDispatch.com is an emergency dispatch communication system. Allowing anyone to quickly and easily send and instantaneously track emergency email and text alert notifications. CivilDispatch.com gives you the power of enterprise alerting without the enterprise cost. Don't find yourself unprepared. Learn more and become a member at CivilDispatch.com. That's CivilDispatch.com, civilian emergency dispatch system. Peace through preparedness. Okay, so we're back for the final part of our deep dive. And I've got to say, it feels like we've stumbled onto more questions than answers. Yeah, it's a complicated issue, for sure. We've talked about TikTok potentially getting banned, all those American users moving to Red Note, this whole idea of like China using these platforms for digital influence. So where does that leave us? What can we actually do, you know, like as an industry, Yeah, that's the million-dollar question, isn't it? And honestly, there's no simple answer. But I think the first thing is just recognizing that the problem exists. Okay. We need to be aware that the online world isn't some neutral space. Uh-huh. It's more like a battleground, you know. And we need to be aware of that. We need to be aware of that. We need to be aware of that. We need to be aware of that. It's more like a battleground, you know, for hearts and minds. Right. And there are all these powerful forces out there trying to shape the way we see the world, the things we believe. It's like we're all living in some giant Truman show. Yeah, kind of. Except instead of some nice TV producer, we've got governments and corporations all fighting for our attention and loyalty. Exactly. And that's why it's so important to be, you know, a more careful consumer of information. Okay. And we need to develop what some people call digital literacy. Digital literacy? Yeah. It's basically the ability to look at the stuff we see online and really think critically about it, no matter where it's coming from. Okay. So how do we do that? How do we actually become more digitally literate? Like, what are some things we can do? Well, there are a few key things to remember. Okay. First, always consider the source. The source, right. Yeah. Like, who actually made this? What are their goals? Are they trying to sell you something, promote some agenda, or just entertain you? It's like that old saying, consider the source, right? Exactly. But online, it's not always so easy to figure out who the source actually is. That's true. That's why it's so important to be skeptical. Don't take anything at face value. Okay. Do your own research. Check different sources. Look for evidence-based information. Got it. Especially from sources you know you can trust. So it's not just about sitting back and absorbing whatever's thrown at us. No, not at all. It's about being more active. You know, actually putting in the effort to find the truth. Exactly. And another thing to keep in mind is our own biases. Oh, yeah. We all have our own preconceptions, you know, things we already believe. Yeah. And those can definitely affect how we see new information. So we need to be more self-aware. Yeah. Honest with ourselves about what we already believe. Yeah. And how that might be coloring our opinions. Absolutely. And finally, don't be afraid to ask questions. If something seems off or you're not sure about the source, dig a little deeper. Talk to people you trust. Get different perspectives. So basically, be curious, be critical, be engaged. Exactly. We all need to be part of this fight for truth and accuracy online. We can't afford to just sit back and watch it happen. That's a powerful message. It reminds me of that final question from the National Defense Lab. Right. White paper, you know, the one about if the digital world is the new battleground, what role do we want to play, what role do you want to play in shaping that story? Yeah, it really makes you think. It challenges us to be more careful about what we consume online, what we share, the communities we're a part of. It's a call to be more thoughtful, more discerning, and more proactive in making the digital world into something better. Definitely a lot to think about. This whole deep dive has been a real eye-opener, and I hope it has been for you, too, listening out there. Me, too. And remember, this journey toward digital literacy, it's never really over. There's always more to learn, more to question, more to explore. That's a great note to end on. Thanks for joining us for this deep dive. Until next time, stay curious, stay informed, and stay engaged. This has been another episode of Deep Dive brought to you by National Defense Lab. For more information about this topic and others, please visit our Deep Dive podcast page on nationaldefenselab.com. Thank you for listening.
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