Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has announced a global ban on several Russian state media networks, citing their use of deceptive tactics to conduct influence operations and evade detection on its platforms.
The company stated, “After thorough review, we have intensified our enforcement against Russian state media outlets.
Entities such as Rossiya Segodnya and RT are now barred from all our apps due to foreign interference activities.”
In response, RT newsreader Eunan O’Neill dismissed the allegations, asserting that RT and Russia categorically reject the recent accusations against the channel and others.
The new restrictions are set to take effect in the coming days.
Neither the Russian embassy in Washington nor Rossiya Segodnya, which owns Sputnik news agency, immediately responded to requests for comment from the BBC.
Russian state media outlets have faced increased scrutiny over allegations of attempting to sway politics in Western nations.
Meta, which also owns Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads, has taken a firmer stance compared to previous actions.
Two years ago, Meta’s measures were more limited, focusing on restricting Russian state media’s advertising and reducing their content visibility.
Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Meta, along with other social media platforms, complied with requests from the EU, UK, and Ukraine to block certain Russian state media in those regions.
Recently, the US accused RT of paying a Tennessee firm $10 million (£7.6 million) to create and distribute content with covert Russian government messaging to American audiences.
An indictment revealed that videos, often pushing right-wing narratives on issues like immigration and gender, were secretly edited and posted by RT employees.
Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced new sanctions against RT, labeling it a “de facto arm of Russia’s intelligence apparatus.”
Blinken claimed that RT is part of a network of Russian-backed media aiming to covertly “undermine democracy in the United States.”
He also alleged that RT has a unit with cyber capabilities and links to Russian intelligence.
RT broadcast Blinken’s remarks on X (formerly Twitter), branding them as the “US’s latest conspiracy theory.”
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