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Meta bans TikTok ads on its platforms in US, Japan and other countries

Meta has banned advertising by ByteDance, TikTok's Chinese parent, on Facebook and Instagram in the US and six other countries, calling it normal business practice. TikTok and ByteDance had not responded.

3 outlets · 0L · 1C · 2R First reported Account updated
Image: The Straits Times
Image: CNA
Image: The Jerusalem Post

1 / 3

The story, neutrally told

Mixed · 2Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has banned advertisements by ByteDance, the Chinese parent of TikTok, on its platforms in the United States and a handful of other countries, a company spokesperson said on Thursday 8 October. Mixed · 2The ban took effect immediately in the US, Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam, and also covers third-party advertisers running campaigns that link to TikTok and other ByteDance properties in those countries, Meta said. Mixed · 2Meta said: "We don't have to run ads from a competitor whose goal is to pull people off our apps," and called declining promotional services to a competitor "a normal business practice across industries", adding that it would keep competing on product quality and user experience.

Mixed · 2Reuters described the move as an escalation in the long-running rivalry between Meta and ByteDance, whose app TikTok has become one of Meta's most formidable competitors for user engagement, creators and advertising dollars. Mixed · 2TikTok and ByteDance did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment, and Bloomberg News first reported the ban earlier on 8 October. Centre · 1The reports note that TikTok's website says it does not support links that open or log users into other social media apps, although users can still add profile links to other platforms' websites.

Mixed · 2Meta has been urging TikTok and YouTube to follow the teen-safety steps it agreed to in August, after a settlement of up to US$18 billion with US states over social media harms to children, which include daily usage limits, restricted night-time use and better blocking of age-restricted content. Centre · 1TikTok has not publicly commented on Meta's campaign, but settled with Alabama in September on new usage limits and stronger age verification, resolving claims that it endangered children and misled consumers about safety. Right · 2In the US, TikTok operates as a majority American-owned joint venture, set up under a deal aimed at safeguarding US user data and averting a ban on an app used by more than 200 million people there.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left0 outlets

No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Centre1 outlet

Framing
CNA carries the Reuters report straight, leading with the immediate effect of the ban in seven countries.
Emphasis
Countries covered, Meta's quote, and teen-safety settlement context.
Leaves out or plays down
No independent comment from TikTok, ByteDance or analysts.
Charged language
“escalation”
For example
“Meta's ban takes effect immediately in the US, Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam.” — CNA

Right2 outlets

Framing
The Straits Times and The Jerusalem Post run the same Reuters copy, leading with Meta's justification and the list of countries (the Post foregrounds the quote and the US).
Emphasis
Meta's rationale as a competitor and the rivalry; the Post's headline limits itself to the US.
Leaves out or plays down
No independent comment from TikTok or ByteDance; the Post's headline omits the other countries.
Charged language
“escalation”“formidable competitors”
For example
“"We don't have to run ads from a competitor whose goal is to pull people off our apps," Meta said.” — The Jerusalem Post
“The move marks an escalation in the long-running rivalry between Meta and ByteDance” — The Straits Times