New Delhi: Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has announced a sweeping global ban on Russian state-controlled media outlets, including RT and Rossiya Segodnya, across all of its platforms. The social media giant cited concerns over covert influence operations by these outlets, which have allegedly employed deceptive tactics to manipulate online narratives.The decision represents a marked escalation in Metas stance against Russian state media, following previous measures such as restricting their advertising capabilities and limiting the reach of their posts.Aim to influence political landscape of USAIn a written statement, Meta confirmed the ban would apply to all its platforms, which include Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads. “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,” Meta stated. The ban will be rolled out gradually over the next few days.🚨🇺🇸🇷🇺 BREAKING: META BANS RUSSIAN STATE MEDIA OUTLETS, INCLUDING RTMeta has banned Russian state media outlet RT and related entities globally, following accusations from the Biden administration that RT operates as an arm of Moscows intelligence agencies.The move comes… pic.twitter.com/Cga8h5RZFa— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) September 17, 2024The U.S. government recently filed money-laundering charges against two employees of RT (formerly known as Russia Today), a Russian state-controlled media network, alleging their involvement in a covert scheme to interfere in the 2024 U.S. election. According to the charges, these individuals were part of an operation that hired an American company to produce online content aimed at influencing the political landscape in the United States ahead of the upcoming election.Real intentions behind media contentThe scheme reportedly involved funneling payments through various channels to obscure the true origin of the funds and the real intentions behind the media content. The American company, unaware of the operations foreign ties, was tasked with producing and distributing content that would shape public opinion on U.S. political matters.In response to these developments, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for international governments to treat RTs activities as covert intelligence operations. Meanwhile, RT dismissed the accusations, asserting that the United States was attempting to stifle its operations as a legitimate journalistic organization.The Russian embassy has yet to respond to requests for comment, while the White House has declined to issue a statement.
