Meta Platforms has banned Russian state media networks such as Rossiya Segodnya, RT and others across its platforms — Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads — for alleged “deception tactics” to influence audiences online, as per a Reuters report.
Meta claimed Russian state media outlets used “deceptive tactics to carry out covert influence operations online”, the report added.
In a written statement, Meta said that the ban has been enforced worldwide across its apps due to “foreign interference activity”, the report said. It will be enforced “over the coming days”.
“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 statement read.
The Russian embassy did not respond to Reuters' queries, as per the report.
The report added that this ban is a “sharp escalation in actions” against Russian state media by Meta, which is the world's biggest social media company. For years, the Mark Zuckerberg-led company has blocked Russian state media ads or reduced the reach of their posts — limiting them instead of an outright ban, it added.
The more definitive move seems to have come after the United States filed money-laundering charges against two RT employees earlier in September 2024.
The two RT employees were accused of scheming to hire an American company to produce online content to influence the 2024 US presidential elections.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on September 13 that countries should treat the activities of Russian state broadcaster RT as they do covert intelligence operations.
Notably, RT has mocked the US actions and accused the country of trying to prevent it from operating as a journalistic organization.
In briefing materials shared with Reuters, Meta said it had seen Russian state-controlled media try to evade detection in their online activities in the past and expected them to continue trying to engage in deceptive practices going forward.
(With inputs from Reuters)
