Last month, Meta announced a $17 billion settlement, bringing its legal battle against dozens of state attorneys general to an end. By paying up and agreeing to implement new safety features across its platforms, Meta hoped to inspire a movement in Big Tech. The plan was to get companies like YouTube and TikTok to play along by compelling them to develop similar features for their users.
At least one of those platforms, however, has its own ideas. Meta tried to run TikTok ads promoting its settlement, but those ads were denied by TikTok earlier this week, according to Axios.
The incoming trust and safety features on platforms like Facebook and Instagram include stricter time limits for underage users, silenced notifications during school hours, and a “night mode” that limits access during predawn hours. When Meta agreed to its settlement, it described those updates as a new “industry standard” for social media.
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Meta will pay an additional $5 billion if other Big Tech firms adopt that industry standard, and the Menlo Park-based giant is pushing hard for that outcome. After announcing its settlement, Meta enacted a strategy described as “reparational jiujitsu.” If it’s going to have to pay up — and it will — then it wants its competitors to face the same penalties.
Beyond a general statement aimed at its Big Tech colleagues, Meta also plugged its industry standard through social media ads that ran on rival platforms. That’s where TikTok intervened. The app described Meta’s ads as “political content,” and its guidelines do not permit paid political ads. TikTok stated that “the nature of political ads is not something we believe fits the TikTok experience.”
Per Axios, Meta said that “it’s disappointing” that YouTube and TikTok have “chosen not to engage.” Given those companies’ previous policies, it’s not surprising that they have resisted Meta’s push. In their own ways, YouTube and TikTok have fought back against attempts to place severe limitations on their respective platforms. Meta shouldn’t expect them to start playing nice now.
