As one of the most popular female tennis players on social media, Coco Gauff says she will join thousands of Americans moving to another platform should a ban come into place.
Reports highlighted by USA Today suggest that short-video app Tiktok could be in the final stages of shutting down its US Operations within the next week amid an ongoing argument. The company is facing a federal ban amid concerns they are linked to the Chinese government. A deadline has been set for this Sunday for ByteDance, who are the parent company of TikTok, to sell their US Assets or face a ban. ByteDance has denied their alleged link to the Chinese government and that they are passing over American data to them.
Gauff is one of the most high-profile players using Tiktok with a following of more than 750,000 and over 22 million likes for her videos. Two of her videos, one of her little brother and another about her US Open title win, have generated more than 11 million views each.
Should a ban come into place, the world No.3 is set to become part of what is being called the ‘Tiktok Refugees’ movement. A term used to describe those moving to another platform called RedNote, which is popular across China and was the most downloaded app on Monday 14th January on the US App Store.
“I have tried to download it. For some reason, it’s not working. I don’t know if it’s my phone or because I’m in Australia,” Gauff said after beating Leylah Fernandez in the third round of the Australian Open.
“Once I figure it out, I’ll definitely be on the app if TikTok goes away.
“Also, I think it’s an opportunity to connect with the Chinese audience. I know in China they asked me to go on another app. I forgot the name, but it was like a big app there. A couple of fans told me to make an account there. I guess I have to eventually do that.
“I think it’s kind of cool from what I have seen on TikTok that everybody is welcoming all the American followers on there. I definitely will probably end up making an account, especially for sure I feel like if TikTok goes away in the U.S.”
RedNote has already tried to distance itself from any connection to China’s government, which was triggered by their native name of Xiaohongshu which translates to Little Red Book. China’s communist leader Mao Zedong’s book of quotations is also called Little Red Book.
Meanwhile, at the Australian Open Gauff is through to the fourth round where she will play Belinda Bencic. Bencic won her latest match against Naomi Osaka who retired after the first set due to injury.
Gauff is currently on an eight-match winning streak.
