Meta, the owner of Facebook, announced on Monday that it is banning Russian state media networks such as RT and Rossiya Segodnya from its platforms. The company claims that these outlets have used deceptive tactics to conduct covert influence operations online. This ban is a significant escalation in Meta's actions against Russian state media, as it previously took more limited steps such as blocking the outlets from running ads and reducing the reach of their posts.
Meta stated in a written statement, "After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets. Rossiya Segodnya, RT and other related entities are now banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity." The enforcement of the ban will be rolled out over the coming days. It's important to note that Meta's apps include Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads.
The Russian embassy has not responded to a Reuters request for comment, and the White House declined to comment on this matter.
This action from Meta follows the United States filing money-laundering charges against two RT employees earlier this month. According to U.S. officials, this was related to a scheme to hire an American company to produce online content to influence the 2024 election.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that countries should treat the activities of Russian state broadcaster RT as they do covert intelligence operations. RT has criticized the U.S. actions and accused the United States of trying to prevent the broadcaster from operating as a journalistic organization.
In briefing materials shared with Reuters, Meta mentioned that it had observed Russian state-controlled media attempting to evade detection in their online activities in the past and expected them to continue trying to engage in deceptive practices going forward.
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Inputs from Reuters
