Facebook and Instagram will no longer run ads by TikTok or its parent company, ByteDance.
Meta has banned TikTok from advertising on Instagram and Facebook.
ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, has been prohibited from running ads on the platform’s as a dispute between the two social media companies escalates.
The ban, which will affect the US, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Canada, and Egypt, will come into effect immediately. It will also include third-parties running campaigns which include links to ByteDance and TikTok properties.
Meta confirmed: “We don’t have to run ads from a competitor whose goal is to pull people off our apps. Declining promotional services to a competitor is a normal business practice across industries. We will continue to compete on product quality and user experience.”
This could have a knock-on effect for content creators and advertisers who regularly use multiple platforms, or who link between their own profiles, including listing products on TikTok Shop – a popular merchant marketplace.
This is not the first time Meta has refused ads on its platforms in recent months. Meta previously removed ads for social media litigation when it faced legal challenges regarding social media safety.
The Mark Zuckerberg-owned company has been publicly compelling TikTok and YouTube to align their safety practices with it after settling the landmark case over child safety concerns in the US $16bn .
As part of the settlement, Meta agreed to impose daily usage limits and restrict children using platforms at night, as well as strengthening measures to prevent children from accessing age-restricted content.
Meta’s settlement will be reduced if both TikTok and YouTube both agree to implement the same safety features, and to contribute financially.
The social media giant did attempt to run ads on TikTok calling for the rival platform to join the settlement terms, but ByteDance app removed them from its platform.
