Lemon8 logo displayed on a phone screen and TikTok icon displayed on a screen in the background are seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland, on March 30, 2023. Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

TikTok’s sister app Lemon8 has been sponsoring posts on TikTok encouraging users to migrate to Lemon8 amid a looming ban threat, according to sponsored posts viewed by Axios.

Why it matters: The TikTok ban law also applies to other apps owned by TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance, like Lemon8.

• ByteDance could be betting that regulators and app store companies are so focused on TikTok that they won’t pay attention to its other apps.

State of play: In the last few weeks, Lemon8 has been promoting its app to TikTok users through sponsored TikTok videos.

• In one sponsored post, TikTok user @miller.dailylife shares a video with a creator saying, “TikTok actually has another backup app. It’s called Lemon8 … and it automatically signs you in with your TikTok so you can still keep the same TikTok name and things like that. And it’s supposed to transfer your followers over. … Once you add Lemon8, it automatically pops up on your TikTok bio, so that people can just click on it.”
• “So, just so you guys know, now that they’re trying to do this ban, if you want to have somewhere else to go where the government is not 100% controlling what we see, what we consume … Just go ahead and go on to Lemon8.”

Our thought bubble: ByteDance would probably like to build Lemon8’s user base even if TikTok isn’t banned.

• But the ads, pegged to recently uploaded videos, suggest they aren’t held over from an older, more general marketing campaign.

Between the lines: In November, TikTok began informing users of its sister app, Lemon8, that beginning late that month Lemon8 would be powered by TikTok, and their TikTok usernames would also be used on Lemon8.

• “Some of your data on TikTok will be used to power services on lemon8,” the notice says.
• “Your Lemon8 profile link will be shown to your TikTok profile publicly by default,” it continues. “You can choose not to show it by editing your TikTok profile.”
• A spokesperson for ByteDance said the backend integration between TikTok and Lemon8 was unrelated to the ban.

How it works: Lemon8 features a mix of TikTok-like videos and Instagram-like photos.

• The app, which caters mostly to Gen Z and Gen Alpha users, works similarly to TikTok.
• It includes a “For You” feed for personalized recommendations and a “Following” feed that shows posts from accounts users choose to follow.

By the numbers: Lemon8 is still tiny compared to TikTok, although app engagement has picked up steadily over the past year, according to Similarweb data.

• Lemon8 has averaged a little over 1 million active daily app users since October, about double where it was for the same time period the year prior.

The big picture: The TikTok ban law explicitly states that any app developed or provided by ByteDance is illegal unless it is sold to a company that is not controlled by a foreign adversary.

• But the discussion has largely centered on TikTok — and it’s the only company, in addition to ByteDance, that lawmakers named in the law.
• That’s in part because ByteDance’s complicated corporate structure obscures which apps the company owns and operates.

What we’re watching: The Supreme Court may decide to grant President-elect Donald Trump’s request to pause the ban, which is set to take effect the day before he takes office.

Go deeper: ByteDance’s web of apps could get tangled up in TikTok ban