Will China welcome TikTok refugees?

All social media in mainland China requires linking a mainland mobile telephone number.

Mobile telephone numbers are regustered to real name via ID Card when registering, or Passport for foreigners. This must be done in person face to face.

For 'China social media' to not require this form of registration means it is the version of the platform specifically targetting non-mainlanders and that mainlanders are typically blocked from using by the Great Firewall (if no VPN)..

This then changes the question to: will China social media specifically intended to be used outside the maonland welcome an influx of TikTok users?

Yes. Its specific focus is projecting a narrative and voice outside the mainland (that's different to tge mainland). The problem is a lack of mods.

On one hand, you have the Chinese users who are either eager to evangelize for China or unable to complain about China due to censorship rules. On the other hand, you have the American users who hate America and love to complain about it. It's not hard to predict which way that will ratchet public opinion.

> The flipside is this is also likely to present attractive and vivid images of a whole new Western world to the Chinese public

China is not the USSR, they're not going to be wowed by supermarkets full of food or colorful and eccentric fashion.

American users will be fine, until some sort of event happens like when Hong Kong was taken over by China and their freedom of speech suddenly disappears.

Protestors disappeared, journalists were arrested, and newspapers were shutdown.

Covid happened and the world suddenly didn't carw anymore.