Meta bans TikTok ads on Facebook and Instagram in the US and six other countries

Meta has stopped taking ads from ByteDance, the Chinese owner of TikTok, on Facebook and Instagram, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday 8 October. Reuters confirmed it with a Meta spokesperson the same day. The ban covers seven countries: the US, Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam.

The rule is wider than ByteDance’s own ads. According to Reuters, it also covers third-party advertisers whose campaigns send people to TikTok or other ByteDance apps in those markets. Meta started enforcing it straight away.

Meta calls blocking a rival’s ads normal practice

Meta did not dress the decision up. The company told Reuters it does not have to run “ads from a competitor whose goal is to pull people off our apps.” It added that refusing to promote a rival is common in many industries. TikTok and ByteDance did not reply to requests for comment on Thursday.

Reuters pointed to a similar rule on TikTok’s side. TikTok does not support links that open or sign users into other social apps. Profiles can still link to the websites of those platforms.

TikTok rejected Meta’s teen safety ads in September

The two companies have been trading blows for weeks. In early September, TikTok refused to run Meta video ads that urged it and YouTube to accept the same teen limits Meta agreed to with US states. TikTok said the ads broke its ban on political content, Axios reported at the time.

Meta’s settlement with the states, worth up to $18 billion according to Reuters, includes daily time limits and night-time restrictions for children on Facebook and Instagram. TikTok has faced its own cases. It settled with Alabama in September, and New York claims its feed reset button for teens did nothing.

App install campaigns for TikTok lose two big platforms

TikTok has more than 200 million users in the US, where it now runs as a joint venture with majority American ownership. It competes with Meta for time spent, creators and ad budgets. Paid ads on Instagram and Facebook were one way for TikTok to win new users and push features such as its growing ad network.

The rule also hits agencies and creators who promote TikTok accounts with Meta ads. In the seven countries, a campaign that points to a TikTok profile or the TikTok app can now be rejected. Europe is not on the list for now. If you run cross-platform campaigns in the US or Canada, check this week which ad sets on Meta link to TikTok and move that traffic to your own site or landing page.