NEW YORK: The United States on Friday (Saturday in Manila) ordered a ban on downloads of popular video app TikTok and effectively blocked the use of the Chinese super-app WeChat on national security grounds, escalating a fight with Beijing over technology.

Under the order, the Tencent-owned WeChat app would lose functionality in the US from Sunday. TikTok users will be banned from installing updates but could keep accessing the service through November 12.