What is Lemon8? The TikTok alternative is gaining popularity that may also face a ban

On By Littum

The company behind social media giant TikTok could face a nationwide ban in the US if it fails to find a buyer for the app in less than a week.

On Friday, lawyers for TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, argued before the Supreme Court that the app should have a right to exist in the United States under First Amendment laws.

But the justices appeared skeptical when they questioned the app’s lawyers, signaling to some that the law potentially banning it will be upheld. If the Supreme Court votes to uphold the law signed by President Joe Biden last year, the app will shut down in the US unless it is separated from ByteDance by January 19.

Meanwhile, more and more users have turned to the company’s alternative social media app, Lemon8, an Instagram-meets-Pinterest lifestyle app that ByteDance has been furiously promoting. But despite its recent surge in popularity, Lemon8 is also at risk in the US.

What is Lemon8?

ByteDance launched Lemon8 in Japan in 2020 and it has seen a steady rise in popularity, hitting the US market in February 2023.

It is dominated by lifestyle content. Posts featured on the app’s website include “How to be a 5 am girlly” and “How to save $500 in a month.”

At the start of this year, it was ranked as the number one free app in Apple’s app store.

The future of TikTok's sister app Lemon8 is also in jeopardy
The future of TikTok’s sister app Lemon8 is also in jeopardy (Reuters)

The app’s US downloads rose 340 percent between June and August last year compared to 2023, according to data compiled by market research firm Sensor Tower.

By comparison, TikTok grew 20 percent year-over-year during the same period, according to the study.

With the threat of the TikTok ban looming, ByteDance began ramping up its advertising efforts with Lemon8 by targeting influencers and paying stars to write about the alternative app, Packaging reported last year.

Will Lemon8 be included in a TikTok ban?

In April 2024, Congress passed a bill, signed by Biden, that gave ByteDance nine months to find a US-approved buyer.

The law says the divestiture or ban requirement generally applies to apps owned or operated by ByteDance, TikTok or one of their subsidiaries. This means that even though Lemon8 is not specifically mentioned in the statute, their future in the United States is also in jeopardy.

Lawmakers and officials say the company has ties to the Chinese Communist Party, raising concerns it could be forced to hand over data on American users to Beijing. The Department of Justice has said that TikTok poses “a national security threat of enormous depth and scope”.

The same concerns remain for Lemon8.

Christopher Krepich, communications director for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, the committee that promoted the bill, confirmed to Forbes that if the TikTok ban is enforced, it will also include Lemon8.

Some experts have argued that the real danger posed by apps is “societal” and not “security”.

“Even if the US bans TikTok specifically, Bytedance – the parent company – is already migrating users to a competing very similar app that it also owns called Lemon8,” Josh Constine of venture capital firm SignalFire told CNN. “And so that wouldn’t solve the problem unless we basically ban all of ByteDance’s apps.”

President-elect Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to delay its decision while he seeks a “political” solution. However, his second term does not begin until the day after the ban is scheduled to start.