Why is the Zigazoo app exempt from the Australian social media ban?

The Zigazoo app may be a safer alternative to social networks like TikTok and Instagram, which were recently banned for Australian children. However, experts say the platform’s branded content poses stealth persuasion risks.

A law restricting children under the age of 16 from accessing ten popular social media networks came into effect on December 10th, 2025, in Australia.

The highly controversial law bans teenagers from creating accounts on popular social media, including Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube. However, they can still watch public content on these platforms that is available to logged-out users.

The ban, aimed at protecting children online, exempted multiple apps, including child-oriented YouTube Kids and LEGO Play, as well as unexpected choices like the professional social media platform LinkedIn.

Among the exempted apps is Zigazoo, which soared to number two on Australia’s App Store chart for kids following the ban, according to its creator, Zak Ringelstein.

“Finally, everyone is coming around and starting to see that the future of social media isn’t junk food,” he wrote on LinkedIn.

Is Zigazoo safer than Instagram and TikTok?

Unlike Instagram and TikTok, Zigazoo is certified by the Federal Trade Commission's kidSAFE Seal Program, meaning that it meets standards for “online safety, privacy, and appropriateness.”

Zigazoo requires both a child and a parent to create accounts on the platform, which are directly linked to each other. The age verification involves the parent taking a photo of themselves together with the child.

This allows the platform to verify that an adult has created the account, while ensuring that adults without children cannot access the platform, according to Alanna Powers, a researcher at Family Online Safety Institute.

“There is no direct messaging on Zigazoo. Comments are extremely limited, and often only stickers and moderated video replies are allowed. Children can choose if they want their videos to be public or private,” she tells Cybernews.

The platform states that all content is moderated by humans before it is visible to users.

On many digital platforms, content is evaluated by algorithms before it reaches human moderators. While algorithmic content moderation plays an important role in removing harmful content, users have found ways to circumvent it.

There is no direct messaging on Zigazoo. Comments are extremely limited, and often only stickers and moderated video replies are allowed. Children can choose if they want their videos to be public or private.

Alanna Powers

For example, “algospeak” relies on substitute words and emojis to discuss sensitive topics. Changing the word “suicide” to “unalive yourself” or “rape” to the grapes emoji allows avoiding triggering automated filters.

Powers says Zigazoo focuses on video-based challenges, created by other kids, child-friendly brands, celebrities, and vetted partners such as museums. If a child wants to create a challenge, they have to apply to the Creator Club on Zigazoo's website.

“There are a lot more steps to make sure content is appropriate than there are on other social media platforms,” she says.

Social media challenges are highly popular among children. While some are as innocent as dances, others can put users’ lives in danger. Multiple children died doing the “chroming challenge,” which involves inhaling the toxic fumes from chrome-based spray paint.

Popular digital platforms may not be doing enough to protect users. A 2022 report found TikTok's algorithm pushes potentially dangerous content about mental health, disordered eating, or self-harm to vulnerable teenagers every 39 seconds.

Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, has been recently accused of intentionally hiding the information that the social networks harm users’ mental health.

Is branded content on Zigazoo dangerous?

While Zigazoo appears to be free of some issues that endanger children on other platforms, experts point to its worrisome brand partnerships.

Powers notes that young children often struggle to distinguish advertisements from programmed media, which can become a significant issue when the ads are disguised as branded content and frequently blend in with regular posts.

She tells Cybernews, “The branded content on Zigazoo comes in the form of challenges, meaning instead of direct ads for a product or service, children complete challenges distributed by brands.”

Yaron Litwin, online parenting and safety expert at Canopy Parental Control App, notes that while Zigazoo’s challenges are no worse than what kids may be exposed to on the banned apps, they still present a "stealth persuasion" risk.

“Especially to those who are younger and highly impressionable,” he says.

Children can use in-app currency, Zigabucks, which cost real money, to purchase stickers, animations, and effects created by brands.

Power says that although these purchases require parental permission, there is a possibility that children could circumvent it and spend real money.

She recommends that parents discuss the importance of money and obtain parental permission before allowing their children to spend on the app.

Estelle Keeber, a social media expert, says being introduced to advertising and brand influence at a young age can shape consumer behavior, blur the line between entertainment and marketing, and impact self-esteem or values if not properly contextualized.

She says, “It’s important that branded content remains clearly labelled and that parents help children understand what advertising is and how it works.”

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