Meta Bans RT And Other Russian Government Media From Its Platform

RT, Rossiya Segodnya, and other Russian state media networks from Meta's platform. (photo: x @JLGuia)

JAKARTA Facebook's parent company, Meta, announced on Monday 16 September that it is banning RT, Rossiya Segodnya, and other Russian state media networks from its platform. Meta stated that the media had used fraudulent tactics to carry out covert influence operations online.

This move, which has come under strong criticism from the Kremlin, is a sharp escalation in the world's largest social media company's actions against Russian state media. Previously, Meta only limited measures such as banning advertising and reducing the range of posts from these outlets.

"After careful considerations, we are expanding ongoing enforcement of Russian state media outlets. Rossiya Segodnya, RT, and other related entities are now banned from our applications globally due to foreign interference activities," Meta said in a written statement.

The enforcement of this ban will roll out in the coming days and take effect on all Meta apps, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads.

Responding to this decision, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, "Meta undermines its own image with this action. Selective actions like this against Russian media are unacceptable... This complicates the prospects for normalizing our relationship with Meta."

Meta itself has been blocked in Russia since 2022 after the Russian government called the company an extremist organization. This move is a response to Meta's policy of allowing users to vent their anger over Russia's invasion of Ukraine through changes to hate speech rules on its platform.

However, despite Russia's ban on Facebook and Instagram, WhatsApp remains widely used in the country. Telegram Messenger and VK Video are also alternatives for Russian citizens who wish to access social media. Telegram itself was founded by Pavel Durov, who was recently investigated by French authorities.

Meta's move also follows allegations of money laundering by the United States against two RT employees, who allegedly hired American companies to produce online content to influence the 2024 elections. The RT condemned this move, accusing the US of trying to hinder its operations as a journalistic organization.

Meta confirms that they have monitored Russian-controlled media trying to evade past detection and expects them to continue to seek future deception practices.