Blitz Bureau
NEW YORK: Facebook owner Meta said on September 16 it was banning RT, Rossiya Segodnya and other Russian state media networks from its platforms, claiming the outlets had used deceptive tactics to carry out covert influence operations online.
The ban, strongly criticised by the Kremlin, marks a sharp escalation in measures by the world’s biggest social media company against Russian state media, after years of more limited steps such as blocking the outlets from running advertisements and reducing the reach of their posts. “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 social media company said in a written statement. Enforcement of the ban would roll out over the coming days, it said. In addition to Facebook, Meta’s apps include Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads.
Moscow branded Meta an “extremist” organisation in 2022 and blocked Instagram and Facebook, objecting to changes in Meta’s hate speech policy designed to allow users to vent their anger over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The pre-existing bans on Instagram and Facebook may limit Russia’s ability to respond to Meta’s state media block, but WhatsApp, which Russia has stopped short of banning so far, is used by millions.
Telegram Messenger, whose Russian founder Pavel Durov was placed under formal investigation in France last month, is widely used in Russia.
