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Americans have flooded the China-based video app RedNote in the last few days in a coordinated campaign to tell her own government “fuck you” as the TikTok ban is set to take effect on Sunday. And while some cultural clash is to be expected, some Americans are testing the limits of U.S.-China digital relations by posting videos about 3D printed weapons. And surprisingly, they seem to be getting away with it so far.
Daily Dot was the one report first Wednesday about a social media user named YZY who decided to join RedNote to teach Chinese users about 3D printed weapons. These so-called ghost guns operate in a gray area of U.S. law, but are clearly illegal in China, where strict gun laws apply.
“We Americans have a moral obligation to download RedNote and show the Chinese how to build unerialized ghost guns,” YZY wrote on X.
The needle moves. pic.twitter.com/HArFGN5m7K
– yzy (@yzy_is_who) January 15, 2025
While YZY tweeted that one video had been removed, it was quickly restored and other videos were apparently allowed to remain online. The user told the Daily Dot that he actually encountered fewer moderation issues than on TikTok, where he doesn’t have an active presence.
“It wouldn’t surprise me if they just never thought of issuing a policy against it,” the user speculated to the Daily Dot.
This may be the first Chinese 3D printed weapon post pic.twitter.com/cs0tkZN3w1
– yzy (@yzy_is_who) January 15, 2025
YZY and a few like-minded friends have planted their flag at RedNote. And while it’s not clear whether the company will take more or less strict measures regarding the presence of gun-related content, it seems to be working quite well this week. A handful of users have asked YZY questions in Mandarin and English. And while the discussion was respectful, there are some RedNote users who are clearly uncomfortable with ghost guns, as many Americans apparently are.
Operators on Xiaohongshu encourage people to unlock the load between reloads pic.twitter.com/U9t2T72Ore
– yzy (@yzy_is_who) January 15, 2025
Citizens of China can obtain a permit to own a firearm, but it is not nearly as easy as it is for Americans to obtain one. In 2019, there were only 1,126 gun deaths in China, compared to the United States, where there were 37,040 same year. The numbers look even worse when you consider that China’s population is much larger at 1.4 billion, while the US only has 335 million.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that Trump plans to issue an executive order to stop implementation of the TikTok ban once he takes office on Monday. But the ban is set to take effect on Sunday and it’s not entirely clear what legal status Trump’s EO might have. In some ways, issuing the EO is probably just a signal to the Justice Department to ignore the law. Because if the DOJ doesn’t try to enforce it, that’s a way to simply invalidate the laws passed by Congress.
No one really knows what will happen to TikTok in the coming days and weeks as the Supreme Court is expected to make a ruling any day. But whatever happens, Americans will dare to cross borders, even as many American and Chinese users see this as a unique opportunity for cultural exchange and the “global village“Idea of the techno-utopianists of the late 20th century.
