TikTok's 'cute winter boots' trend explained
As the U.S. government seeks to enact stricter controls over online speech, TikTok users are adopting more coded 'algospeak' to criticize and resist the government
Why everyone on TikTok is talking about ‘cute winter boots’
For the past 48 hours, thousands of TikTok users have been posting and sharing videos ostensibly about "cute winter boots."
"I see a lot of people on this app right now making plans to buy cute winter boots," one TikToker posted on Thursday, "...but there's a lot of things that you guys are missing.”
"Here's some safety tips for going out in your cute winter boots,” another user posted, “you're going to memorize your first amendment rights, because those are the rights you're exercising when you're out in your cute winter boots."
The phrase “cute winter boots” is not about footwear. It's a code phrase being used to discuss resistance to Trump and how to fight back against the draconian immigration policies his administration is enacting. Users talking about “cute winter boots” keeping people safe from "ice," are referencing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "Cute winter boots" is just the latest example of algospeak, coded phrases and words aimed at subverting algorithmic filters.
As the U.S. government seeks to enact stricter controls over speech online, TikTok users are adopting more coded language specifically aimed at criticizing the government and alerting others to government surveillance of online spaces. For instance, the phrase "Senator, I'm Singaporean," a quote uttered by TikTok's CEO Shou Chew in response to Sen. Tom Cotton's racist line of questioning implying that Chew was a Chinese government agent, is now frequently posted in the comments of videos by users seeking to warn others about the content they're posting. The phrase "Senator, I'm Singaporean," has come to mean that a video is not something that the government wants, or that they're going to show this type of video to congress, a creator explained.
The videos discussing "cute winter boots" leverage the TikTok algorithm's preference for product-focused content to amplify their reach. "What the algorithm likes is products," said Diana, the admin of @/citiesbydiana, a TikTok account about urban planning. "It’s a way to talk about resisting the federal government in a way that will actually reach people."
Many "cute winter boots" videos also include links to TikTok shop, but instead of selling boots they're selling things like Night by Elie Wiesel, a book about the Holocaust, or items that may be useful to have in a protest, like protective gear. Some are promoting the date January 29th as a day of protest.
Other "cute winter boots" videos use the phrase on videos educating people in very broad strokes about the rise of fascism, explaining how the Holocaust started and how Hitler took power. They do this through very vague references and layered algospeak to the point that many videos are incomprehensible.
Some TikTok users are holding up pages of written text, often hand written in script because they believe it's harder for AI systems to read, detailing things like how to fight back against authoritarianism, or outlining Trump's immigration policies and how to protect people from or escape an ICE raid. While they cycle through these pages on screen, they espouse the need for sturdy and warm winter boots.
Many videos and comments also include erroneous trending pop-culture related phrases like "Bridgerton," "Taylor Swift," "Wicked," "Uggs," "kpop," and "anime," in hopes these words will help the content reach a wider audience.
Some mentions of “cute winter boots” appear to be a direct reference to firearms. Users have posted phrases including "you need cute winter boots so you don't slip on ice," which people have taken to mean that you need a gun to resist ICE. "They're using it to talk about constitutionally protected items and certain constitutional amendments that protect your rights to possess certain constitutionally protected items," said Diana.
“Cute winter boots is code for pew pews,” a conservative influencer explained, using more algospeak— the phrase “pew pew” means gun.
MAGA content creators are already making videos about the trend, revealing the meaning behind the phrase and criticizing those using it. "The liberals have decided to have some sort of revolt or revolution and they're using cute winter boots to talk in code," one conservative influencer explained in a video that amassed nearly 100,000 views.
However, creators I spoke to about the trend said that they still think the phrase is worthwhile.
TikTok has allegedly been cracking down on left-wing political content as the app caters to Trump, and creators say that they're preparing for a future in which TikTok's guidelines might change to become even more restrictive.
If a U.S. company buys TikTok, most creators believe the app will become completely beholden to the interests of the U.S. government, and make speech criticizing those in power even more impossible. They hope that posting in coded language will make it harder for those in power to crack down on their content or ban them retroactively.
"People are preparing for the future in which TikTok’s guidelines may change in deference to the government," Diana said. "TikTok users are smart. They understand code and they've been talking in code for years."
DeepSeek’s AI breakthrough is sending techies into a panic
Chinese startup DeepSeek just launched a new cheap open source AI model called Deepseek R1 that’s basically a far superior version of ChatGPT. Tech people are predictably losing their minds and calling this a major breakthrough. Marc Andreessen, posted on X: “Deepseek R1 is one of the most amazing and impressive breakthroughs I’ve ever seen — and as open source, a profound gift to the world [robot emoji, salute emoji].”
The Financial Times has a good deep dive into how hedge fund billionaire Liang Wenfeng built the model on a tight budget amidst U.S. attempts to halt China’s high-tech ambitions.
As VentureBeat writes, “with U.S. companies raising and spending record sums on new AI infrastructure that many experts have noted depreciate rapidly (due to hardware/chip and software advancements), the question remains which vision of the future will win out in the end to become the dominant AI provider for the world.”
Of course, some techies and people in D.C. are already calling Deepseek “a CCP state psyop” and “economic warfare to make American AI unprofitable.”
As Intercept journalist Sam Biddle points out, “[It’s] interesting how often when something Chinese outperforms something American (TikTok, deepseek, cars, etc) it's a ‘psyop’ or ‘economic warfare’ or ‘digital fentanyl’ or a ‘cyberweapon’ and not just ‘another country made something people like.’”
“I will never stop pointing out the irony of China hawks coopting China's historical rationale for blocking American technology without even the slightest trace of irony or self-awareness,” Biddle added. “‘It's a western conspiracy to destabilize our nation’ is the oldest trick in the book! Meta has defended its free release of Llama on explicitly anti-China competition grounds! This is unsurprisingly not, however, a psyop, or economic warfare.
“Is DeepSeek lying about its model? Maybe! I certainly would not say that ‘misleading the public about an LLM' is a Chinese thing, though.”
Ladies and gentleman, the sign-off
Miles Riehle, the guy who has been posting the Daniel Craig SNL clip where he says “ladies and gentleman, the weekend” every Friday for years now, is shutting down his Twitter account.
Riehle attempted to move over to Bluesky, but got banned for impersonation. Apparently someone else on Bluesky ripped off his idea, and now, even though Riehle is the original creator of the account, he can’t set up shop there. He posted a goodbye note to Twitter saying that it has been an honor to be the weekend’s timekeeper. RIP.
~Personal news~
My weekly tech and online culture interview show Power User broke into the top 50 tech podcasts on Spotify! You can watch full video episodes of the show on Spotify (subscribe to the Spotify feed) as well as on my YouTube channel.
My show is pretty small and it’s a real labor of love, so I’m really excited about this achievement. Take a listen to the latest episodes and let me know what you think!
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TikTok it girl Alix Earle is bringing back skinny jeans with a new campaign and collaboration with Frame denim. Meanwhile, Vogue questions whether Bella Hadid is ushering in the skinny jean revival.
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Tiger King’s Joe Exotic is despondent that Trump hasn’t pardoned him yet.
Flip, the TikTok Shop rival, launches a creator fund that grants up to $100M of equity value.
Tumblr’s experimental GIF feed finally launches after 10 years.
Aa woman who spent the day with Elon Musk at Auschwitz says he doesn’t care about anything but his own PR.
Lime bikes keep breaking Londoners’ legs. A leading London surgeon who specializes in knee reconstruction has seen a “big increase in Lime-bike related injuries.”
Sensor Tower’s 2025 State of Mobile report is out revealing tons of insights about the mobile world. Some takeaways:
Connecting Mobile to In-Person: Many of the fastest growing categories connect users to their in-person experiences amid digital fatigue, such as outdoor health & fitness, grocery store, and restaurant apps.
Mobile Gaming Bounces Back: Gaming spend climbed to $81 billion (+4% YoY) as Strategy, Puzzle, and Action fuel growth.
Competition Spans Across the Globe: Retail is an example area of global competition with Chinese-backed Temu and SHEIN entering the space.
Video Captures User’s Wallets: Streaming and Social Media apps saw rapid revenue gains despite slowing or even declining time spent growth.
Cryptocurrency Apps are Booming: Improving macroeconomic conditions and higher Bitcoin prices helped fuel a resurgence in crypto apps to levels not seen since 2021.
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Cute winter boots 🥰
Just bought your book. Extremely late adopter here.