Meta has officially prohibited all advertisements originating from ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok. The restriction applies to both direct marketing messages from the company and third-party advertisements that contain links to the TikTok platform.
The policy change took effect on Thursday and covers several key markets. In addition to the United States, the ban extends to Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam. Meta spokesperson Christopher Sgro stated that the company does not intend to provide promotional services to a direct competitor.
This decision follows recent regulatory pressure on Meta regarding child safety, which resulted in a settlement requiring the company to pay $17 billion. Meta previously urged TikTok and YouTube to adopt similar safety measures, including a request for an ad campaign that TikTok reportedly refused to host.
TikTok has also implemented its own restrictions, recently updating its support documentation to prevent users from including links that facilitate logins or redirects to other social media applications. Despite the US-based joint venture structure of TikTok in the country, ByteDance retains a significant ownership stake.
