Meta blocks russian state media
Facebook’s parent company Meta announced about blocking RT and other Russian state media. Such actions are based on the identification of foreign interference activities performed by these actors.
Repeated deceptive activities
In a statement, Meta explained: “After due consideration, we have increased the constant enforcement against Russian state media After analyzing the records, the company has been able to learn about the attempts made by some companies such as “Rossiya Segodnya” and “RT” in hiding their interferences in foreign territories via the internet. These manipulations, according to Meta, are expected to persist and the company has committed to enforcing the ban in the next few days.
Accusations of disinformation
The announcement has been made shortly after the Biden administration openly claimed that RT participates in propaganda and dissemination of disinformation in Internet. As the authorities have stated, RT is using its media to justify and support the invasion of Ukraine and the target audience for it is people in Africa and France.
Some of the earlier issues raised in the Meta-Russian relationship
Remember that as early as 2022 Meta has already limited the presence of these Russian state media on Facebook in Ukraine at the request of the Ukrainian authorities due to their content. In response, exactly a week after arresting the activists, Russia banned Facebook in the country a few days after, initiated a criminal probe against Meta, Fall under ‘extremist’ charges, and declared both Facebook and Instagram guilty, thereby entirely banned Meta from conducting businesses in Russia.