Fear of a U.S. TikTok ban has increased use and downloads of a range of alternative social media apps, including Texas-based Clapper, Chinese-owned RedNote and Likee, a little-known Singaporean platform whose A.I. The driven video feed is similar to TikTok's, according to new market research.

Americans were unable to access TikTok for about 14 hours from Saturday night to Sunday as a federal law aimed at curbing China's influence on TikTok took effect, triggering an unprecedented wave of internet censorship in a country that values ​​free speech. Data from the Pew Research Center shows that about 63% of American teenagers and one-third of American adults use TikTok.

Places where some of them have found refuge include Likee, the TikTok clone launched in 2017 by Joyy, a profitable Singaporean technology company. As of November, Likee had about 33.9 million monthly users, most of them outside the United States. But downloads of Likee in the United States increased by 143% on Saturday compared with the previous day, and usage increased by 37%, according to estimates from Sensor Tower, which collects device sample data. The trend continued into Sunday, with Likee usage up 11% from the previous day.

Estimates from Apptopia, another company that studies the app industry, show that Likee was downloaded less than 10,000 times a day in the United States for several months before jumping to nearly 167,000 on Sunday and about 286,000 on Monday. Apptopia also estimates similar growth for TikTok rivals Clapper and Flip.

Shares of Likee parent company Joyy closed up about 3% on Tuesday, outpacing the average gain of its Nasdaq peers. Joyy doesn't release Likee's financial figures, but it and its sister apps generated about $73 million in sales in the third quarter of last year through advertising and user purchases. Likee did not respond to a request for comment.

Other less frequently used apps, including Clapper and Snap's Snapchat, saw growing interest over the weekend with double-digit increases in user activity. TikTok's biggest competitors, Meta's Instagram and Facebook, are seeing more modest growth. Meanwhile, usage of YouTube and X has barely changed.

RedNote, another Chinese app that Americans flocked to protest in the days leading up to the ban, saw an 80% increase in users on Sunday over the previous day, according to Sensor Tower. According to Reuters, more than 700,000 new users joined RedNote in the first two days of the craze earlier this week. Its Chinese name is Xiaohongshu, and in recent days it has become the most downloaded free app on the Google and Apple App stores in the United States.

TikTok went back online in the United States on Sunday after President-elect Donald Trump promised a temporary moratorium on the new law when he took office the next day. The regulation, signed by former President Joe Biden last year, effectively bans TikTok by threatening to fine web hosting providers and app stores that work with its parent company, Chinese tech giant ByteDance, unless the company divests its content in TikTok. ownership. Sensor Tower data shows that users returned to TikTok in large numbers on Sunday, with daily active users increasing by 17% compared with Saturday.

On Monday, Trump issued an executive order providing an additional 75 days to resolve TikTok's woes. But the legality of his decree remains in question, and TikTok remains unavailable in U.S. app stores. But when users search TikTok, they see a range of alternatives — Likee, Clapper, and more.