Facebook owner Meta bans Russian state media outlets over 'foreign interference activity'

Facebook owner Meta said on Monday it was banning RT, Rossiya Segodnya and other Russian state media networks, alleging the outlets used deceptive tactics to carry out influence operations while evading detection on the social media company's platforms.

The ban marks a sharp escalation by the world's biggest social media company against Russian state media after it spent years taking more limited steps like 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," the company said in a written statement.

Enforcement of the ban would roll out over the coming days, it said. In addition to Facebook, Meta's apps include Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads.

"Meta is discrediting itself with these actions. Such selective actions against Russian media are unacceptable," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday.

"This complicates prospects for normalizing our relations with Meta."

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The White House declined to comment on Meta's move, which came after the U.S. filed money-laundering charges earlier this month against two RT employees for what officials said was a scheme to hire an American company to produce online content to influence the 2024 election.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that countries should treat the activities of Russian state broadcaster RT as they do covert intelligence operations.

RT has mocked the U.S. actions and accused the United States of trying to prevent the broadcaster from operating as a journalistic organization.

In briefing materials shared with Reuters, Meta said it had seen Russian state-controlled media try to evade detection in their online activities in the past and expected them to continue trying to engage in deceptive practices going forward.

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Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice unsealed an indictment accusing Russian nationals of funding a conservative media outlet which is believed to be Tenet Media, an outlet run by two Canadians. The indictment alleges the outlet is a key conduit for turning Russian money into propaganda and misinformation for North American consumption. Luke LeBrun, who tracks the far right in Canada for Press Progress, explains how Canada has come to play an outsized role in far-right misinformation.  

In conflict after Ukraine invasion

Moscow branded Meta an "extremist" organization in 2022 and blocked Instagram and Facebook, objecting to changes in Meta's hate speech policy designed to allow users to vent their anger over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Russia has also criticized previous efforts by Meta to limit the reach of Russian media and fined the company several times for not removing content in Russia that it considers illegal.

The pre-existing bans on Instagram and Facebook may limit Russia's ability to respond to Meta's state media block, but WhatsApp, which Russia has stopped short of banning so far, is used by millions.

Telegram Messenger, whose Russian founder Pavel Durov was placed under formal investigation in France last month, is widely used in Russia.

VK Video, run by state-controlled tech firm VK, offers an alternative to YouTube, which has come under pressure in Russia over its own efforts to block Russian state media.