Meta Bans Russian State Media Outlets Over "Foreign Interference"

Meta announced it is banning Russian state media organizations from its social media platforms, accusing the outlets of using deceptive tactics to promote Moscow's propaganda.

Meta, which owns Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, said that it would begin rolling out the ban over the next few days as part of its efforts to combat Russia's covert influence operations. I Photo: Aleksey Savitskiy

The decision sparked backlash from the Kremlin, according to Associated Press (AP) Finance.

Meta, which owns Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, said that it would begin rolling out the ban over the next few days as part of its efforts to combat Russia's covert influence operations.

"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 statement.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov condemned the action, stating, "Such selective actions against Russian media are unacceptable. Meta, with these actions, is discrediting itself."

He added, "We have an extremely negative attitude towards this. And this, of course, complicates the prospects for normalizing our relations with Meta."

The decision by Meta follows recent sanctions imposed by the United States on RT, accusing the outlet of playing a critical role in Russia's war efforts and its attempts to undermine democratic adversaries.