A Chinese app moves up the download charts – but in Australia, the sudden uptake isn’t just about TikTok | Australian politics

As the TikTok ban looms in the US, users have flocked to RedNote, also known as Xiaohongshu, a China-based app similar to Instagram.

But in Australia, where there is no imminent TikTok ban, the app is also climbing the app download charts. And it doesn’t just tell us about TikTok – it also reveals problems with Australia’s upcoming age ban on social media.

RedNote has 300 million users, mostly based in China, but has added about 700,000 new users in a matter of days as TikTok users look for an alternative.

Dr. Alexia Maddox, director of digital education at La Trobe University, said three factors were likely driving Australians to download RedNote.

These include Australian users following US users, especially when content creators switch, a strategic move to secure usernames and establish a presence on a new app – and possibly the incoming under-16 social media ban.

“While speculative at this stage, the platform migration patterns we’re seeing are consistent with what we know about how users respond to regulatory changes — both anticipated and actual,” she said.

ByteDance faces a January 19 deadline to sell TikTok or face a US ban on national security grounds. TikTok is used by about 170 million Americans, about half of the country’s population, and is overwhelmingly popular with young people and the advertisers who want to reach them.

But the ban is up in the air due to the pending decision by the US Supreme Court on whether to stop the TikTok ban, as well as the imminent return of Donald Trump as US president next week.

There is no immediate sign that Australia would follow the US in banning TikTok for everyone. There were loud calls for it among some in the Coalition in 2023 and 2024, but they have mostly died down in the months since – the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, for example, has a TikTok account he is using in the run-up to the federal election.

And while it’s fighting for its life in the US, TikTok is still announcing new Australian-centric projects and actively hiring in Australia.

But the emergence of a new social media platform – even one that may only have fleeting popularity in the US or Australia – raises questions about what the government would do if a new app were to launch that is not covered by the under-16 ban year.

According to the law passed by Parliament, the Minister of Communications will decide this year which platforms will be affected by the ban. It is expected that it will at least include TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram.

Under proposed codes soon to be considered for adult websites, websites or apps that refuse to verify that users are 18 or over could be blocked in Australia.

A surge in popularity for RedNote among teenagers in Australia could see it added to the list, but unlike the others, the app has little presence in Australia. And while RedNote could face fines worth millions of dollars for non-compliance, it’s not clear how that would be enforced.

If RedNote doesn’t comply, it’s unclear whether it would be easy to order Apple and Google to remove the app from their stores.

The situation highlights the game the government will likely have to play once the ban is in place, adding a new app to the list when it is deemed popular with teenagers and a cause for concern for parents. When a new app is banned for teenagers, they will find another or a platform that is not covered by the ban – for example, web forums.

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The government’s rationale is that doing something is better than nothing, and it is expected that teenagers will move to other services or find ways around old age insurance.

It all comes as the trial of superannuation technology is about to begin. According to a timeline published by ACCS, the provider chosen for the trial, a full test of the four different ways ages will be checked is to be carried out within the next three months.

It includes hard verification using ID documents, testing a dataset of 4,000 legitimate, fake and altered ID documents such as licenses and passports. It will also look at age estimation technology, such as biometrics such as scanning a person’s face or testing their voice or hand gestures, according to the document.

The trial will also examine age inference methods that look at a user’s browsing behavior or online activity or purchase history to determine age without violating “privacy policies and properly anonymize data where necessary.”

All these tests are due to be completed by April, according to the project plan, with the report to be given to the government in June. It will be after the next federal election, so it will be up to whoever is in the role of communications minister to decide how to react.