Meta Bans RT and Other Kremlin-Funded Media Outlets
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Social media giant Meta has banned RT (Lean Right bias) and other Russian state media outlets, alleging they’ve engaged in covert influence operations online.
Recent Context: The move comes after the U.S. State Department accused RT of engaging in “destabilizing actions abroad” in a report last week. On September 5, the U.S. Justice Department accused RT of conducting an influence scheme that involved funding American conservative media pundits who were unknowingly taking Russian money, according to the Department.
Previous Context: In March 2022, after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the European Union banned its citizens from accessing RT. A few weeks after that, the Kremlin branded Meta as an “extremist” organization due to what it deemed were unfair changes to its hate speech policy. Meta apps Facebook and Instagram were subsequently banned in Russia.
Key Quotes: In a statement, Meta said, “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.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, “Meta is discrediting itself with these actions… This complicates prospects for normalizing our relations with Meta.”
How The Media Covered It: RT prominently noted that “Moscow has called the move an act of information warfare, which exposes America's inability to fairly compete with Russian media.” CNN (Lean Left bias) included context on scheduled Senate testimony from Meta, Microsoft, and Google executives scheduled to take place on Wednesday regarding combatting foreign election interference.
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Left
Meta bans Russian state media outlet RT over ‘foreign interference activity’Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced Monday that it has banned Russian state media broadcaster RT and other Kremlin-controlled networks, alleging the outlets have engaged in deceptive influence operations and attempted to evade detection.
“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,” a Meta (META) spokesperson said in a statement.
From the Center
Meta bans RT and other Russian state media networksFacebook owner Meta (META.O), opens new tab said on Monday it was banning RT, Rossiya Segodnya and other Russian state media networks from its platforms, claiming the outlets had used deceptive tactics to carry out covert influence operations online.
The ban, strongly criticised by the Kremlin, marks a sharp escalation in measures by the world's biggest social media company against Russian state media, after years of more limited steps such as blocking the outlets from running ads and reducing the reach of their posts.
"After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement...
From the Right
Meta bans RTThe Facebook owner has acted after Washington claimed Russian outlets are espionage offshoots US tech giant Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, has banned several Russian news networks, including RT. In a statement on Monday, the company said the deplatforming of the media outlets from its apps is due to “foreign interference activity” and would be implemented globally over the next several days. The US government sanctioned RT last week, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken claiming that the outlet is “functioning as a de facto arm of [Russian] intelligence.”...
AllSides Picks
September 18th, 2024
September 18th, 2024