Meta has banned RT and other Russian state media outlets on its platforms, which include Facebook and Instagram. “After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets,” the company told Engadget in a statement. “Rossiya Segodnya, RT and other related entities are now banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity.” Meta shared briefing materials with Reuters, in which the company said it found evidence in the past that Russian outlets took steps to prevent their foreign interference activities online from being detected. It said it expects the outlets to continue with their deceptive practices. The ban will be enforced over the coming days.
The company’s announcement comes days after the Biden administration publicly accused RT of spreading propaganda and disinformation online. Authorities said that RT is spreading propaganda and information to justify and back its invasion of Ukraine using media outlets catering to locals, such as ones targeting Africa and France.
Meta restricted Russian state media’s access to Facebook in Ukraine back in 2022 at the request of its government, in order to limit the spread of those outlets’ content. In response, Russia blocked Facebook in the country a few days later and opening a criminal case against the company. A judge later found Facebook and Instagram guilty of “extremist” activity, effectively banning Meta from opening offices and doing business in Russia.