Meta bans TikTok ads on its platforms in US

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has prohibited advertisements from ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, on its platforms in the United States and several other nations. This decision comes amid a prolonged competition between Meta and ByteDance, with TikTok posing a significant threat to Meta's user engagement, creators, and advertising revenue.

The ban will commence immediately in the US, Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam, and also covers third-party advertisers directing traffic to TikTok or other ByteDance services in these countries, as announced by Meta.

Meta's stance is rooted in the company's desire to prevent users from leaving its platforms. A Meta spokesperson stated, "We don't have to run ads from a competitor whose aim is to draw people away from our apps." The company emphasized that declining business from a rival is a standard practice in many sectors. Meta reaffirmed its commitment to competing based on product excellence and user experience.

TikTok and ByteDance have not yet commented on Meta's decision. Despite this, TikTok's website indicates that it does not facilitate links opening or logging users into other social media apps. Nonetheless, users can still include links in their profiles that redirect traffic to those platforms' websites. In August, Meta had called upon TikTok and YouTube to adopt measures to enhance teen safety following a settlement that could reach $18 billion with US states over alleged social media harms to children.

The settlement required Meta to implement daily usage caps and nighttime restrictions for children using Facebook and Instagram, and to strengthen safeguards against children accessing age-restricted content. TikTok has not publicly commented on Meta's current campaign, but it settled with Alabama in September to impose new usage limits and improve age-verification methods for users in the state, resolving claims of endangering children and misleading consumers regarding safety.

Bloomberg News broke the story of Meta's ban on ByteDance's ads earlier on Thursday.