Meta Blocks TikTok Ads on Facebook and Instagram in US and Japan
October 9, 2026 - 11:54 am
Credit: gguy via Shutterstock
Meta has banned ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, from advertising on Facebook and Instagram in seven countries, including the US and Japan, as reported by Bloomberg News.
The ban took effect immediately in the US, Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam. It also includes other advertisers whose ads direct users to TikTok or other ByteDance apps within these markets.
A Meta spokesperson confirmed the ban to Reuters. The company stated that rejecting ads from a competitor is standard business practice, emphasizing that they would continue competing based on their products' quality.
“We don’t have to run ads from a competitor whose goal is to pull people off our apps,” Meta said in a statement to Reuters.
TikTok and ByteDance did not respond to *Reuters'*s requests for comment. The ban does not prevent users from accessing TikTok; however, Reuters noted that TikTok itself does not support links directing users to other social apps for login purposes, although profiles can link to rival websites.
This move follows escalating tensions between the two companies over child safety in recent months. In August, Meta reached a $18 billion settlement with US states, agreeing to daily time limits and nighttime restrictions for young users. Part of the payout depends on rivals implementing similar measures.
Meta has since urged TikTok and YouTube to accept these terms. In September, TikTok rejected Meta ads encouraging it to join the deal, claiming they violated its rules on political content, according to Axios. Later that month, TikTok reached a settlement with Alabama, agreeing to usage limits and stronger age checks, while still facing other state cases, including a lawsuit over teen safety in New York.
Notably, TikTok’s US business now operates through a majority-American-owned joint venture, where ByteDance holds 19.9%. The app boasts over 200 million users in the US.
Story by Alina Maria Stan