As Australia prepares to block under-16s from accessing 10 of its largest social media platforms, less prominent companies have begun courting the teen market – in some cases paying underaged influencers to promote them.

One teenaged TikTok influencer said in a paid “collab” video for the app Coverstar: “The social media ban is fast approaching, but I found the new cool app we can all move to.”

From 10 December all under-16s in Australia will notionally be banned from TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube, Reddit, Twitch, Kick and X as Australia’s world-first social media laws come into effect.

Questions remain about how effective the ban will be, with many children hoping to circumvent it. Others have started looking elsewhere for their social media fix.

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Along with Coverstar, lesser known apps such as Lemon8 and photo-sharing app Yope have skyrocketed on Australia’s download charts in recent weeks, currently ranked first and second in Apple’s lifestyle category respectively.

The government has repeatedly said its ban list is “dynamic”, with the potential for new apps to be added. Experts have raised concerns the government is starting a game of “whack-a-mole”, pushing children and teenagers to lesser known corners of the internet.

“A potential consequence of this legislation is that it might actually inadvertently create more risk for young people,” says Dr Catherine Page Jeffery, an expert in digital media and technological change at the University of Sydney.

“There is a very real possibility that, if young people do migrate to less regulated platforms, they become more secretive about their social media use because they’re not supposed to be on there, and therefore if they do encounter concerning material or have harmful experiences online that they won’t talk to their parents about it.”

Here’s what we know about some of the apps where children are migrating.

Coverstar

The US-based video-sharing platform Coverstar describes itself as a “new kind of social app for Gen Alpha – built for creativity, powered by AI, and safer than TikTok”. The app, which is not covered by the social media ban, sits at number 45 on Apple’s Australian downloads chart.

The video-sharing platform allows children as young as four to livestream, post videos and comment. Users under the age of 13 require a parent to film themselves saying “My name is ____ and I give permission to use Coverstar”, which is then verified by the app. Adults are also free to make an account, post content and interact in the comments sections.

Like TikTok and Instagram, users can spend real money to buy virtual “gifts” to send to creators who go live, and the app also includes a “premium” paid subscription with advanced features.

Coverstar advertises its safety features as a lack of direct messaging, a strict no-bullying policy and 24/7 monitoring by AI and human moderators.

Dr Jennifer Beckett, an expert in online governance and social media moderation from the University of Melbourne, says Coverstar’s repeated promotion of their use of AI raises some questions.

“They are really spruiking that they use [AI] a lot, and it’s not great,” she says.

AI has been widely used in social media moderation for years, however Beckett says it has significant limitations.

“It is not nuanced, it is not contextual. It’s why you have a layer of humans on the top. The question is: how many humans do they have?”

Coverstar has been contacted for comment.

Lemon8

Lemon8, an Instagram-esque photo and video-sharing app owned by TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has boomed in popularity in recent weeks.

Users can connect a TikTok account, allowing them to seamlessly transport video content over to Lemon8. They can also re-follow all their favourite TikTok accounts on the new platform with a single tap.

However, on Tuesday Australia’s eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, announced that her office had written to Lemon8, recommending it self-assess to determine if the new laws apply to it.

Yope

With only 1,400 reviews on the Apple app store, Yope is a “friend-only private photo messaging app” that has been floated as a post-ban alternative to Snapchat.

Yope’s cofounder and chief executive, Bahram Ismailau, described the operation as “a small team of a few dozen people building the best space for teens to share photos with friends”.

Similar to Lemon8, Australia’s eSafety commissioner said she had written to Yope advising them to self assess. Ismailau told the Guardian he had not received any correspondence, however was “ready to provide our official position on the overall eSafety policy regarding age-restricted social media platforms”.

He said that after conducting a self-assessment Yope believes it fully meets the exemption in the law that excludes apps that are solely or primarily designed for messaging, emailing, video or voice calling.

“Yope is a photo messenger with no public content,” Ismailau said. “Yope is fundamentally as safe as iMessage or WhatsApp.”

Yope’s website states the app is for users aged over 13, and those between 13 and 18 “may use the app only with the involvement of a parent or guardian”. However the Guardian was able to create an account for a fictional four-year-old named Child Babyface without any requirement for parental permission.

A mobile phone number is required to create an account.

Ismailau did not directly respond to questions about the under-13s account, however he noted the team was planning to update their privacy policy and terms of use within the next week to “better reflect how the app is actually used and who it’s intended for”.

Rednote

Also known as Xiaohongshu, this Chinese video-sharing app was the destination of choice for Americans during TikTok’s brief ban in the US earlier this year.

Beckett said the app may be a safe place to go. “They have much stronger regulations on social media in China – and we see that reflected in the kinds of content that has to be moderated,” she says. “So I would almost say if you’re going to go somewhere, it’s probably the safest place to go.

“It’s not without its trials and tribulations because we know on TikTok, even when it was still in Bytedance’s control, there was so much pro-ana [anorexia] content.”

However, cybersecurity experts say the app collects extensive personal data, which it can share with third-party platforms or may be compelled by law to share with the Chinese government.

Social media alternatives

Even with an ever-expanding list of banned social media sites, experts say the government is underestimating children’s desire to use social media – and their creativity when it comes to finding a way.

“I don’t think we give them enough credit for how smart they are,” Beckett says. “Kids are geniuses when it comes to pushing boundaries.”

Anecdotally, the Guardian understands some children have been discussing using website builders to create their own forums and chat boards. Others have suggested chatting via a shared Google Doc if texting isn’t an option for them.

“They’re going to get around it,” Beckett said. “They’ll figure it out.”