Meta bans Russians state media from its platforms for ‘foreign interference activity’

Tech giant Meta has announced it will ban several Russian state media networks from its platforms.

The parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp has announced that Russian state media organizations like RT, Rossiya Segodnya, and more will be banned from its platform, claiming that they have carried out covert influence operations online.

“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,” Meta said in a written statement to Reuters.

The ban will begin to roll out over the coming days and will take effect across Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads.

The decision has been met with strong criticism from the Kremlin. This isn’t the first time that Meta has banned Russian state media content, with past years seeing the company blocking organizations from running ads and reducing post reach. However, it does highlight a much stronger stance from Meta.

“Meta is discrediting itself with these actions,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in a statement to the press on Tuesday (Sep. 17). “Such selective actions against Russian media are unacceptable. This complicates prospects for normalizing our relations with Meta.”

Back in 2022, Moscow branded Meta as an ‘extremist’ organization, blocking access to both Instagram and Facebook in Russia. This was in opposition to changes in Meta’s hate speech policy after Russia invaded Ukraine. Moscow has also criticized Meta’s previous actions of limiting the reach of Russian state media, fining the company on multiple occasions for not removing content considered illegal in Russia.

While Instagram and Facebook are still banned in Russia, WhatsApp is used by millions across the country.

Meta isn’t the only one treating Russian state media with suspicion, with American Secretary of State Antony Blinken stating on Friday (Sep. 13) that Russian state broadcaster RT should be treated by global powers in the same way as covert intelligence operations. The broadcaster is already blocked and banned in many Western nations such as the UK, France

Meta is cracking down on misinformation, with the company also banning a Chinese Facebook account earlier this year in February.

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