ByteDance pushes an Instagram-like app as DC battles over banning TikTok

When Congress gives you lemons… make Lemon8. ByteDance has been busy, and not just defending its social superstar, TikTok, from US lawmakers, who are considering a ban. The Chinese tech titan has another social app, dubbed Lemon8, which hit US App Store top charts this week. Described as a cross between Meta's Instagram and Pinterest (picture: style pics, shopping recs), Lemon8 is said to use the same recommendation algo powering TikTok's addictive feed.

• Slow squeeze: After introducing the app in 2020, in Japan, ByteDance grew Lemon8 to 5M monthly users last year by rolling it out in countries including the UK and Indonesia.
• Cre8tors: ByteDance paid US creators to juice up Lemon8 with #sponsored content, and some social stars are posting about Lemon8 on TikTok. ByteDance is reportedly gearing up to (officially) promote Lemon8 globally next month.
• Another slice: ByteDance also owns CapCut, a Tok-friendly video-editing app with 400M+ global downloads last year.

Lemon8 and left some crumbs… Lemon8's low-key launch contrasts with ByteDance's high-key TikTok tangle. A bipartisan group of lawmakers are pushing legislation that would give President Biden the power to ban (or force a sale of) TikTok — plus other apps seen as posing national-security concerns. Think: platforms that might share data with China or other sanctioned countries. POTUS urged Congress to pass the bill, but not everyone's on the ban-wagon: Sen. Rand Paul and Rep. AOC recently opposed a ban on free-speech grounds. TikTok users have also been posting fan content supporting the app’s CEO, who was grilled by Congress last month.