Meta bans Russian state media from its platforms over ‘foreign interference activity’

September 17 () –

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, announced on Monday that it has banned several Russian state media outlets, including RT, from accessing its platforms, a measure imposed after the US government accused the outlet of acting as an arm of Moscow’s spy agencies.

“After careful consideration, we have expanded our enforcement against Russian state media outlets. Rossiya Segodnya, RT and other related entities are now banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activities,” the company said in a statement reported by US television network .

Before the ban, RT had 7.2 million followers on Facebook and one million followers on Instagram. Top officials from Meta, Microsoft and Google-owner Alphabet are expected to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday about their platforms’ work to combat foreign threats in the US election.

In early September, the US Justice Department announced charges against two RT employees for funneling nearly $10 million to a US company to create and amplify content aligned with Russian interests. Officials say the covert influence campaign targeted the American public ahead of this year’s presidential election.