Meta bans ads from its close rival TikTok on its platforms, as reported by Bloomberg. The company is calling this a normal business decision to deny promotion services to a competitor. The company began implementing restrictions on ads and paid marketing on its platform from TikTok’s US minority owner, China’s ByteDance.
Meta bans TikTok ads across its apps in seven countries
The ban will be effective in the US, Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam. It looks like a tit-for-tat move, as it comes after TikTok banned links to Instagram and Facebook profiles. It also banned Meta ads urging TikTok and other social media sites to adopt its lead with safety features for teens.
Meta’s ban also extends to third-party advertisers running campaigns linked to TikTok and other ByteDance properties in the said countries. “We don’t have to run ads from a competitor whose goal is to pull people off our apps,” Meta spokesperson Chris Sgro told Bloomberg.
Public disagreements between the companies
This comes after weeks of public disagreements between the two companies over child safety. In August, Meta agreed to an $18 billion settlement with US states. It also required it to add child safety features to Facebook and Instagram. Part of the payout depends on YouTube and TikTok adopting similar child-safety measures.
Legal experts opined this could push competitors like TikTok and YouTube to make similar changes to their apps. European regulators, earlier this summer, said TikTok had not made enough changes to protect minors and warned that it could face a fine of up to 6% of its global annual revenue.
This puts TikTok and YouTube under pressure from government regulators and Meta to adopt stronger child safety measures. Meta also ran ads in major US newspapers urging its rivals to adopt similar measures and also criticized TikTok for its absence from US government discussions on screen time and child safety. TikTok’s US business now runs as a joint venture mostly owned by American investors, with ByteDance holding a 19.9% stake.
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