Australians have rushed to download a host of lesser-known apps in response to a wide-ranging social media ban that has booted teenagers off more popular platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Snap.
Lemon8, an app owned by TikTok owner ByteDance, was the most downloaded lifestyle app on Apple this week followed by photo-sharing app Yope, according to the iPhone maker’s app store charts. Coverstar, a US video-sharing app that markets itself as a safe space for children, was third, while RedNote, the Chinese social media app also known as Xiaohongshu, has also gained users.
Even WhatsApp, the messaging app owned by Meta, has benefited as under-16s sought out a new place to maintain social networks.
The interest in different platforms comes after Australia this week became the first country in the world to ban under-16s from holding accounts for 10 apps deemed to be potentially harmful to teenagers and children. It is one of a number of measures taken by governments around the world to protect children from the potentially harmful impact of social networking and other online dangers.
The law has put the onus on technology companies to verify the age of people trying to subscribe to social media platforms. Companies including Meta, X, TikTok and Google will have to submit data to the country’s digital regulator to determine whether progress has been made switching off more than 1mn accounts held by teenagers.
Tama Leaver, professor of internet studies at Curtin University, said alternative apps, messaging services and gaming platforms were likely to report “magical numbers” for the month as younger users flock to their platforms.
“For those that have come off, they’re looking for somewhere else to go. They are scratching the surface and they’ll regroup,” he said.
Bahram Ismailau, chief executive of Delaware-registered Yope, told the Financial Times that it had not marketed itself in Australia but now had more than 100,000 users in the country with sign-ups booming due to word of mouth.
“We’re really taking off in Australia, and to be honest, we’re buried under a heavy load of work because of it,” he said.
The Australian government has said it would look to extend the range of apps covered by the law if needed.
Lemon8, a sister company to TikTok, has held talks with Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, which is tasked with enforcing the new law.
Yope has made a submission to be exempt from the law. “Yope is built primarily for private messaging and has no algorithmic or public content at all,” Ismailau said.
He said a new breed of alternative apps had started to emerge to challenge the dominant social media companies that treat society like a “cash cow”.
Lemon8, RedNote and Coverstar did not respond to requests for comment.
Ellese Ferdinands, a lecturer at the University of Sydney Business School, said the sudden rise of obscure apps showed the limitations of the Australian government’s ban.
“If a new app can start overnight, then how do we regulate that?” she said. “There’s a lot of eyes and pressure from regulators on existing apps like TikTok and Instagram. These fringe apps don’t have those safeguards.”
The 10 apps that have been designated have moved to comply with the law despite challenging the rationale and method that Australia has chosen to implement it. Reddit, the US company, on Friday launched a High Court challenge against the law, arguing that it was unconstitutional.
“This law has the unfortunate effect of forcing intrusive and potentially insecure verification processes on adults as well as minors, isolating teens from the ability to engage in age-appropriate community experiences (including political discussions), and creating an illogical patchwork of which platforms are included and which aren’t,” the company said.
Leaver said the displacement of younger users from public-facing apps to private ones such as WhatsApp could also throw up unintended consequences.
“It’s not the utopia that some might think. It’s a closed space and it’s harder to see what’s going on,” he said. “It could drive the problem further underground.”