Because the TikTok ban looms in the USA, customers have flocked to RedNote, also called Xiaohongshu, a China-based app that appears much like Instagram.
However in Australia, the place there isn’t a imminent TikTok ban, the app can also be rocketing up the app obtain charts. And it doesn’t simply inform us about TikTok – it additionally exposes points with Australia’s forthcoming social media age ban.
RedNote has 300 million customers largely based mostly in China, however has added about 700,000 new customers in a matter of days as TikTok customers search for another.
Dr Alexia Maddox, director of digital schooling at La Trobe College, stated three components are most likely driving Australians to obtain RedNote.
These embody Australian customers following American customers, significantly as content material creators shift, a strategic transfer to safe consumer names and set up a presence on an rising app – and, probably, the incoming social media ban for under-16s.
“While it’s speculative at this stage, the platform migration patterns we’re seeing align with what we know about how users respond to regulatory changes – both anticipated and actual,” she stated.
ByteDance is dealing with a 19 January deadline to promote TikTok or face a ban within the US on nationwide safety grounds. TikTok is utilized by about 170 million Individuals, roughly half of the nation’s inhabitants, and is overwhelmingly well-liked with younger folks and the advertisers wanting to achieve them.
However the ban is up within the air as a result of pending choice of the US supreme courtroom on whether or not to pause the TikTok ban, in addition to the approaching return of Donald Trump as US president subsequent week.
There isn’t any fast signal Australia would comply with the US in banning TikTok for everybody. There have been loud requires it amongst some within the Coalition in 2023 and 2024, however these have largely died down within the months since – the opposition chief, Peter Dutton, as an illustration, has a TikTok account he’s utilizing within the lead-up to the federal election.
And whereas it fights for its life within the US, TikTok continues to be asserting new Australian-centred tasks and is actively hiring in Australia.
However the emergence of a brand new social media platform – even one that will solely have a fleeting reputation within the US or Australia – raises questions on what the federal government would do ought to a brand new app take off that isn’t coated by the under-16s ban.
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Beneath the regulation handed by parliament, the communications minister will determine this yr which platforms will probably be affected by the ban. It’s anticipated it is going to a minimum of embody TikTok, Fb, Snapchat and Instagram.
Beneath proposed codes quickly to be into consideration for grownup web sites, websites or apps that refuse to confirm that customers are 18 or over could possibly be blocked in Australia.
A surge in reputation for RedNote amongst teenagers in Australia may see it added to the record, however in contrast to the others, the app has little presence in Australia. And whereas RedNote may face tens of millions of {dollars} price of fines for failing to conform, it’s not clear how it might be enforced.
If RedNote doesn’t comply, it’s unclear whether or not ordering Apple and Google to take away the app from their shops can be easy.
The state of affairs highlights the sport of whack-a-mole the federal government will most likely need to play as soon as the ban is in place, including a brand new app to the record every time it’s deemed well-liked amongst teenagers and a trigger for concern for folks. When one new app is banned for teenagers, they’ll discover one other one, or a platform not coated by the ban – for instance, internet boards.
The federal government’s justification is that doing one thing is healthier than nothing, and it’s anticipated teenagers will transfer to different providers or discover methods round age assurance.
All of it comes because the trial of age assurance know-how is about to start. Based on a timeline revealed by ACCS, the supplier chosen for the trial, a full take a look at of the 4 other ways ages will probably be checked should be accomplished within the subsequent three months.
That features exhausting verification utilizing ID paperwork, testing a dataset of 4,000 official, pretend and altered ID paperwork like licences and passports. It would additionally take a look at age estimation know-how, resembling biometrics like scanning somebody’s face, or testing their voice or hand gestures, in response to the doc.
The trial may also examine age inference strategies that take a look at a consumer’s browser behaviour or on-line exercise or buy historical past to find out age with out violating “privacy policies and correctly anonymises data where required”.
All these checks will must be accomplished by April, in response to the undertaking plan, with the report attributable to be given to the federal government in June. That will probably be after the following federal election, so it is going to fall to whoever is within the function of communications minister to determine methods to reply.
