War between Meta and TikTok: the Chinese platform's advertisements, banned in the US and six other countries

Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, has banned advertisements for TikTok and other services of the Chinese group ByteDance in the United States and six other countries. The decision intensifies the rivalry between the two companies, according to News.ro, which quotes Reuters. The ban applies in the United States, Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam. The measure targets both advertisements directly posted by ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, and campaigns by third parties that contain links to TikTok or other services of the Chinese group in those countries. "We are not obliged to broadcast advertisements of a competitor whose objective is to attract users away from our applications," Meta stated. The company maintains that refusing to promote a competitor's services is a common practice in many industries. Meta added that it will continue to compete through the quality of its products and the experience offered to users. The decision marks a new stage in the competition between Meta and ByteDance, given that TikTok has become one of the main rivals to Facebook and Instagram in attracting users, content creators, and advertising budgets. According to information published on the TikTok website, the platform does not allow links that directly open other social media applications or that allow users to log in to them. However, users can include links to the web versions of competing platforms in their profiles. Meta's decision comes amid disputes between the major platforms regarding the protection of minors in the online environment. In August, Meta asked TikTok and YouTube to adopt measures similar to those assumed by the American company in an agreement worth up to 18 billion dollars with the United States. This agreement aims to resolve allegations that social networks have negative effects on children. Among the measures foreseen are limiting the daily time minors spend on Facebook and Instagram, restricting access at night, and consolidating mechanisms to block children's access to content with age restrictions. TikTok has not commented publicly on Meta's requests. However, in September, the company reached an agreement with the State of Alabama, under which it committed to introducing new usage limits and improving age verification for users. The agreement resolved allegations that the platform could endanger children and mislead consumers about the safety of the service. Currently, TikTok operates in the United States through a joint venture owned mostly by American investors. The agreement that led to the creation of this structure aimed to protect user data and avoid the ban of the application, which has over 200 million users in the US. The information about the ban imposed by Meta was initially reported by Bloomberg News. Editor: A.P.