Meta bans Russian media from its social media apps, alleging 'foreign interference'

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has banned Russian media from all its social media platforms. Meta announced that it has banned Russian state media RT News and other Kremlin-controlled networks for alleged 'foreign interference' activities. Meta alleged that Russian media have used deceptive tactics to run influence operations while avoiding identification on its social media platforms.

Meta said in its statement, "After careful consideration, we have expanded our ongoing sanctions against Russian state media outlets. Rossiya Segodnya, RT, and other related networks have been banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity."

Meta has been taking action since the Ukraine war.

This is the second time Meta has taken this step, earlier in 2022, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Meta had limited the Russian network to stop the misinformation being spread by Russia. Meta had taken down and demonetized such posts and accounts that were running an agenda related to the Russian government.

Meta includes Facebook, Instagram, Thread, and WhatsApp. Before the ban, RT had more than 7 million followers on Facebook, while its Instagram account has more than one million followers.

America also imposed sanctions.

Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken imposed new sanctions against RT and accused it of being linked to Russia's intelligence agency. Blinken told the media on Friday that RT is part of a network of Russian-backed media outlets that have secretly tried to undermine democracy in America. Apart from this, he accused RT of carrying out cyber attacks in America with the help of Russia.

RT live streamed these allegations of Blinken on its X and called it a new conspiracy of America.