Meta Platforms Inc. Restrict Russian Media Access, RT And Sputnik, On Facebook

EU Meta restricts Sputnik and RT on Facebook. (photo: doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA - Meta Platforms Inc, Facebook's parent company, will restrict access to Russian state media outlets, RT and Sputnik, on its platforms across the European Union. This was confirmed by Meta's head of global affairs, Nick Clegg, on Monday 28 February.

Nick Clegg said in a Twitter post that their social media company had received requests from a number of governments and the EU to take steps with respect to Russian state-controlled media on its platforms. Clegg said Meta would continue to work closely with EU governments on this matter.

We have received requests from a number of Governments and the EU to take further steps in relation to Russian state-controlled media. Given the exceptional nature of the current situation, we will be restricting access to RT and Sputnik across the EU at this time.

— Nick Clegg (@nickclegg) February 28, 2022

The European Union on Sunday, February 27 said it would ban Russia's state-owned television network RT and news agency Sputnik from broadcasting in Europe. Canadian telecom operators have also stopped offering RT channels.

This they did in addition to complying with the sanctions applied, as well as to limit Russian propaganda actions, for their invasion of Ukraine.

Reported by Reuters, Russia's state-run media activity on social media platforms has also emerged as a controversial issue for big tech companies during the country's invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls "special operations."

Meta, Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc Google and YouTube have taken action in recent days to restrict Russian state media from making money from advertising on their platforms. Twitter Inc has even banned RT and Sputnik from advertising on its site since 2017.

Twitter said on Monday it would label and limit the visibility of tweets containing content from media outlets affiliated with the Russian government, in an expansion of its policy to label state media accounts.