Meta blocks advertising from TikTok's parent ByteDance in multiple countries

Meta announced that, starting Thursday, it will no longer run advertisements from ByteDance, the Chinese parent of TikTok, on any of its platforms in the United States and a slate of other markets. The restriction covers both direct ads from ByteDance and third-party promotions that link to TikTok, reflecting Meta's stance that a competitor's goal is to pull users off its apps. Christopher Sgro, a Meta spokesperson, described the decision as a routine commercial measure.

The ban extends to Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam. It arrives months after Meta agreed to a $17 billion settlement over child-safety issues and has urged TikTok and YouTube to adopt comparable protections. TikTok has already limited users from embedding links that open other social-media apps.