The Russian broadcaster RT has been blocked in the EU since 2022. Now the Meta Group is also reacting. The accusation: targeted disinformation campaigns.
Menlo Park – The Facebook-Group Meta is taking action against Russian state propaganda. A few weeks before the US election Russian state media such as RT (formerly RussiaToday) and several affiliated organizations worldwide from the company’s apps. The measure affects all platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Meta justifies this step with the accusation of “foreign influence”. The Russian state media are conducting targeted disinformation campaigns and trying to circumvent the platform mechanisms. According to the company, the decision was made after careful consideration in order to protect the integrity of the platforms.
Meta blocks several Russian state media outlets on all platforms
Meta was already after the beginning of Russia’s Ukraine War in February 2022, taking action against Russian state media and, among other things, slowing down the distribution of their articles. From Meta’s point of view, Russia remains under Vladimir Putin the largest source of covert influence operations.
The US government had RT recently accused of interfering in “the sovereign affairs of countries around the world.” In addition, the broadcaster works closely with the Russian military, as Secretary of State Antony Blinken explained. USA had Russia of interference in the election campaign. The US government has now imposed sanctions against several individuals and organizations, including representatives of RT. In the EU is RT already closed since spring 2022.
RT accounts are still available on online platform X, unlike Meta
In contrast to the Meta Group, the online platform X, which is owned by Elon Musk is operated, RT-Accounts outside the EU and some other countries remain available. After taking over the service, the tech billionaire also had markings that had previously been used to identify state media removed. (dpa/red)
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