Is TikTok likely to be banned? This is Lemon8. The Chinese group ByteDance wants to take possible bans of its flagship application by surprise. Already deprived of the professional devices of many officials around the world, the social network could be banned for everyone in the United States. In this context, ByteDance presents a new application, just as viral.
While TikTok has revolutionized the way short videos are consumed, Lemon8 is also expected to integrate videos, but it will focus more on photos. At first glance, the platform offers a formula that mixes Instagram and Pinterest, says the US agency Bloomberg.
no official release
This new social network has so far only been available in Japan, Great Britain, and Singapore since April 2020. Expected to roll out this year in the United States, downloads are already available for American users. The craze is such that Lemon8 has surpassed well-established apps like Pinterest or Tinder. However, no official release has been announced yet.
If Apple’s app store targets Heliophilia as a Lemon8 provider, it’s ByteDance behind the new platform. Heliophilia is a Singaporean company located at the same address as TikTok’s headquarters. Like the flagship app, Zhou Qin is its director.
“The same questions will arise”
A detail that is important because even before its launch, the charges against TikTok affect Lemon8. With ByteDance in the works, the new app promises to be scrutinized, as detailed by Lindsay Gorman, head of technology and geopolitics at the German Marshall Fund and a former technology adviser to the Biden administration.
It remains to be seen if action will be taken against this new application in the same way as against TikTok. Lemon8 is currently not available in France.
Source: BFM TV
