Meta has banned advertisements from ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, on Facebook and Instagram.
The ban took effect immediately in the US and six other countries: Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam.
It also applies to third-party advertisers running campaigns that link to TikTok and other ByteDance properties in those countries, Meta said.
Bloomberg News first reported the ban on Thursday. Reuters then confirmed it with a Meta spokesperson.
Meta Calls It Standard Business Practice
Meta spokesperson Chris Sgro said the company does not have to run ads from a competitor whose goal is to pull people off its apps. He described declining promotional services to a competitor as “a normal business practice across industries”.
Meta added that it will keep competing on product quality and user experience, according to Bloomberg.
TikTok and ByteDance have not yet released a comment.
Teen Safety Dispute Sits Behind the Move
Bloomberg reports that the rivalry became more heated in August, after Meta agreed to a settlement of up to $18 billion with US states over child safety on Instagram and Facebook.
Under that agreement, Meta committed to a two-hour daily time limit for teens, night-time access turned off by default, and no notifications during school hours. Meta published an open letter urging TikTok and YouTube to put the same measures in place.
Part of the payout depends on whether Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube adopt similar protections, according to Reuters.
Meta also tried to run ads on TikTok promoting its settlement. TikTok rejected them, arguing they contained political content, which it does not accept in paid ads, Axios reported.
TikTok has not publicly commented on Meta’s campaign, Bloomberg reports. In September, however, it settled with Alabama. The deal requires new usage limits and stricter age checks for teenagers in the state.
The two companies have clashed before. Both challenged EU gatekeeper status under the Digital Markets Act.
It is not TikTok’s first brush with regulators over children’s data. In 2023, it was fined £12.7 million for misusing that data.
TikTok’s US Ownership
TikTok operates in the US through a majority American-owned joint venture, established to secure US user data and keep the app available to more than 200 million Americans, according to TikTok.
ByteDance retains 19.9% of the venture. Bloomberg describes ByteDance as the former controlling owner of TikTok, though it also says the company remains in charge of key parts of TikTok in the US.
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