Meta imposes global ban on Russian state media outlets
Meta has announced a worldwide ban on Russian state media outlets, including RT and Rossiya Segodnya, across its platforms. "After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets," Meta stated. The company also revealed that it had found evidence of these outlets attempting to conceal their online foreign interference activities in the past.
Meta anticipates continued deceptive practices
Meta anticipates that these Russian outlets will persist in their deceptive practices. The ban, which is set to be implemented over the next few days, comes shortly after the Biden administration publicly accused RT of disseminating propaganda and misinformation online. This accusation was particularly focused on RT's alleged use of media outlets to justify Russia's invasion of Ukraine and influence local populations in regions like Africa and France.
Meta's previous restrictions and Russia's retaliation
In 2022, Meta had already limited the access of Russian state media to Facebook in Ukraine, at the request of the Ukrainian government. This move was aimed at curbing the spread of content from these outlets. In retaliation, Russia blocked Facebook within its borders shortly afterward and initiated a legal case against Meta. A judge later ruled that Facebook and Instagram were guilty of "extremist" activity, effectively prohibiting Meta from establishing offices or conducting business in Russia.
