While TikTok is in the crosshairs of US politicians considering banning the app, its Chinese parent company has launched a new app that could draw similar concerns.
The app, called Lemon8, didn’t make waves when ByteDance launched it in the US in February, but as TikTok’s future becomes less certain Lemon8 already has nearly 300,000 US downloads.
In Asia, the app has been around since 2020, racking up 7.4 million downloads in Thailand and 5 million more in Japan.
Lemon8 is a bit like a cross between Instagram and Pinterest, allowing users to follow specific users’ content and discover new content using algorithmic recommendations. It also resembles a Chinese app, Xiaohongshu, which translates to “little red book.”
Crucially, like TikTok and other social media platforms, Lemon8 collects user data, including IP address, browsing history, device identifiers and other information.
That could attract a similar response from US lawmakers, who have suggested that the Chinese government could force ByteDance to hand over US TikTok user data or push misinformation on the platform.
TikTok has denied those accusations in appearances, including in an appearance by CEO Shou Chew before Congress.
There is already concern from lawmakers that if TikTok is banned and Lemon8 gains market share in its place, then the cybersecurity risks will remain unmitigated.
A bipartisan Senate bill called the RESTRICT ACT would give the Commerce Department power to review and potentially restrict foreign threats to technology platforms. It was sponsored by Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va and Sen. John Thune, R-Sd.
“For too long, our government has been playing a game of Whac-A-Mole when it comes to addressing the various foreign technology threats popping up all around us,” Warner said in a prepared statement. “The RESTRICT Act would establish a risk-based, intelligence-informed process to evaluate and mitigate the risks posed by tech from adversarial nations, whether that be Huawei, TikTok, Lemon8, or the next viral technology product pushed by an authoritarian nation.”
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
Follow him on Twitter @andrew_kessel