The TikTok app icon on a smartphone in this illustration. [Photo Credit: Reuters]

Facebook and Instagram-owner Meta opens new tab has banned advertisements by ByteDance, the Chinese parent of TikTok, on its platforms in ​the United States and a handful of other countries, a company spokesperson said.

The move marks an escalation in the long-running rivalry between Meta and ByteDance, whose video-sharing app TikTok has emerged as one of Meta’s most formidable competitors for user engagement, creators and advertising dollars.

Meta’s ban ​takes effect immediately in the US, Canada, Egypt, Indonesia, Japan, Thailand and Vietnam, and ​extends to third-party advertisers running campaigns that link to TikTok and other ⁠ByteDance properties in those countries, Meta said.

TikTok and ByteDance did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment on Meta’s move.

TikTok’s website shows ​that it does not support links that open or log users into other social media ​apps. However, users can still add links to their profiles that direct people to those platforms’ websites.

Meta has ‌been urging, opens new tab ⁠TikTok and YouTube to follow steps it agreed to take on teen safety in August following a settlement of up to $18 billion with US states over social media harms to children.

Meta in August agreed to impose daily usage limits and restrict nighttime usage by children who use ​Facebook and Instagram, and ​enhance measures to prevent ⁠children from accessing age-restricted content.

TikTok has not publicly commented on Meta’s campaign, but it reached a settlement with Alabama in September that requires the ​social media platform to impose new usage limits and enhance age-verification ​measures for ⁠users in the state, resolving claims that it endangered children and misled consumers about its safety.

TikTok operates in the US as a majority American-owned joint venture after a deal aimed at safeguarding US ⁠user data ​and averting a US ban on an app used ​by more than 200 million users in the country.

Bloomberg News first reported Meta’s ban earlier on Thursday.