TikTok pushes Lemon8, but why?

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On Friday, the Supreme Court signaled it would uphold the ban on TikTok over concerns about its ties to China.

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The ban, set for January 19th, wouldn’t immediately wipe the app from the 170 million Americans already on it. However, new users won’t be able to download it, and over time, no security or software updates would eventually make the platform practically unusable.

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In the wake of the imminent ban, TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, has ramped up efforts to promote its sister app Lemon8. Sensor Tower reported U.S. users accounted for 70% of Lemon8’s December downloads, and Lemon8 is now the No. 1 app in the Apple App Store.

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Some U.S. users are moving over voluntarily, but ByteDance is also using TikTok to grow Lemon8. I received a notification that some of my followers wanted to follow me on Lemon8, and ByteDance is promoting Lemon8 through paid TikTok collaborations.

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This is all very weird, considering Christopher Krepich, communications director for the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, told Forbes that the legislation would also ban Lemon8.