Meta announced on Monday (16) the banning accounts used by some media outlets associated with the Russian government from their platforms. The decision was justified by the use of deceptive strategies in covert online influence operations by these companies.
The sanctions come at an important moment in the US presidential race. In the 2016 and 2020 elections, Russian foreign influence was a major campaign issue.
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Russian TV channel RT is on the ban list released by Meta.Source: Getty Images/Reproduction
One of the companies banned from using Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp is RT, old Russia TodayRussian state-funded TV network. The news agency Russia Today and some other state channels in the country were also included in the sanction confirmed by big tech.
“After careful consideration, we have expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state-owned media outlets. Russia Today, RT and other related entities now are banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity”, said the company led by Mark Zuckerberg, in a statement.
The banning of Russian state media companies from Meta's social networks should come into effect in the next few days. As a result, they are prevented from posting, interacting with followers and using other resources available on the platforms while the ban lasts.
Russia reacts to ban
The relationship between Meta and the Russian government, which is not good, is likely to get even worse with the ban. Previously, the tech giant had already applied other sanctions to media managed by the country's administrationsuch as reducing the reach of posts and prohibiting the publication of advertisements.
Speaking to the press on Tuesday (17), Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov commented that the measure makes the possibility of improving the relationship with the company more distant. “Meta is discrediting itself with these actions. Such selective actions against Russian media are unacceptable,” he commented, as reported by Reuters.
As a way of opposing changes in policies to combat hate speech on social media, Russia blocked Instagram and Facebook in 2022, after calling the companies “extremist”. The country also went as far as to apply fines to Meta for failing to remove content deemed illegal by Moscow.