META Stock Muted After Report Of Trump’s Purchase: Meta Bans TikTok Ads in US, Six Other Regions

The move comes close on the heels of TikTok removing dedicated Instagram links from user profiles.

• Meta’s ad ban also covers third-party campaigns promoting TikTok and other ByteDance properties.
• TikTok still has more than 200 million U.S. users under a majority American-owned joint venture.
• Retail sentiment on Stocktwits remained 'bearish' for META for a second consecutive day.

Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) has banned advertisements from ByteDance, the Chinese parent of TikTok, across Facebook and Instagram in the U.S. and six other countries, escalating its rivalry with one of its biggest competitors for users, creators and advertising dollars.

Reuters and Bloomberg reported that the restriction, which took effect Thursday, covers Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam. It also applies to third-party advertisers running campaigns linking to TikTok and other ByteDance properties in those markets.

META shares fell 0.1% on Thursday and were flat in overnight trading. Investor scrutiny of President Donald Trump’s latest stock purchases also weighed on sentiment.

Meta, TikTok Rivalry Heats Up

“We don’t have to run ads from a competitor whose goal is to pull people off our apps,” a Meta spokesperson told the news agencies, describing the decision as a normal business practice. The company added that it would continue competing on product quality and user experience.

The move comes as Meta steps up pressure on TikTok and Alphabet’s (GOOGL) YouTube over child safety measures, following an August settlement with U.S. states that could cost Meta up to $18 billion.

Under the agreement, Meta committed to introducing daily usage limits for children on Facebook and Instagram, restricting nighttime usage and strengthening safeguards against age-restricted content.

Meta had also argued that competitors should implement comparable measures rather than leave it at a disadvantage. The company has also publicly criticized TikTok for skipping industry discussions on the potential harms of excessive screen time, according to Bloomberg.

TikTok Makes Cross-Platform Promotion Harder

The advertising ban follows other moves that have added friction to the rivalry. Last month, TikTok removed dedicated Instagram links from user profiles, making it harder for users to move between the platforms, according to Bloomberg. TikTok users can still include links that direct visitors to other social media sites.

Meta faces an uneven competitive landscape. TikTok operates in the U.S., while Meta’s services remain unavailable in China, a key market for ByteDance.

TikTok operates in the U.S. through a majority American-owned joint venture established under a deal intended to protect U.S. user data and avert a nationwide ban. The app has more than 200 million users in the country, Reuters reported.

Trump Buys META Stock

Trump reportedly bought up to $25 million in META shares in August, his largest reported transaction among 517 securities trades that month.

According to a CNBC report on Thursday, the Aug. 21 META purchase was valued between $5 million and $25 million. The Aug. 21 purchase of Meta Platforms (META) shares was valued between $5 million and $25 million.

Trump’s August financial disclosure listed 517 transactions worth between $74.3 million and $273.3 million, with each transaction reported as a value range. According to the report, purchases totaled at least $44.2 million, while sales totaled at least $30.1 million.

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for META remained ‘bearish’ for a second day. The sentiment for shares of Oracle, a major owner of TikTok’s U.S. business, was also ‘bearish.’

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