Meta Bans Russian Media From Facebook

Uploaded on 2024-09-18 in TECHNOLOGY-Key Areas-Social Media, INTELLIGENCE-Hot Spots-Russia, FREE TO VIEW

Facebook owner Meta says it is banning several Russian state media networks from its social media platforms, alleging they use deceptive tactics to carry out influence operations and evade detection on its platforms.

In addition to Facebook, Meta also owns Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads.

This ban which includes RT, Rossiya and Segodnya from posting on Meta platforms, has been strongly criticised by the Kremlin.

This development is an escalation in measures by the world's biggest social media company against Russian state media, after years of more limited steps such as blocking the outlets from running ads and reducing the reach of their posts. "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 response, a Kremlin spokesman commented that “such selective actions against Russian media are unacceptable,” and that “Meta with these actions are discrediting themselves.”

Russian state media outlets have come under increased scrutiny over claims they have tried to influence politics in Western countries. Two years ago, Meta took more limited measures to limit the spread of Russian state-controlled media, including stopping the outlets from running adverts on its platforms and limiting the reach of their content.

When the war in Ukraine began, Meta, like other social media platforms, complied with requests from the EU, UK, and Ukraine to block some Russian state media in those regions.

Recently, the US government accused the Russian state broadcaster of paying Tennessee firm $10 million to produce and publish content to US readers with hidden Russian government messaging.The US indictment stated that the videos, which often promoted right-wing narratives on issues such as immigration, gender and the economy, were secretly "edited, posted, and directed" by two RT employees.

The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accusing it of being a "de facto arm of Russia's intelligence apparatus".
claiming that RT is part of a network of Russian-backed media outlets which have sought to covertly "undermine democracy in the United States".

Blinkenalso said that the Russian government has "embedded within RT, a unit with cyber operational capabilities and ties to Russian intelligence". RT live-streamed Mr Blinken's remarks on X and declared it the "US's latest conspiracy theory".

Image: RT

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