(AmericanProsperity.com) – Meta, owner of Facebook, has said that it is banning Russian state media networks, including RT and Rossiya Segodnya. The bans are taking place allegedly because the outlets are using deceptive tactics to carry out and influence operations, while being able 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,” Meta stated in a written statement.
In addition to Facebook, Meta’s apps such as WhatsApp, Threads, and Instagram will also be banning these media outlets.
This ban is an escalation in actions by the world’s biggest social media company against Russian state media after it took other steps such as blocking the outlets from running ads or reducing the reach of their posts.
Earlier this month, the United States filed money-laundering charges against two employees of RT who were engaging in a scheme to hire a U.S. company to produce online content in the hopes of influencing the upcoming election.
When information arose that proved that the RT was a “de facto arm of Russia’s intelligence apparatus,” Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State, announced sanctions against the Russian media company.
“Today, we’re exposing how Russia deploys similar tactics around the world,” stated Blinken. He continued, “Russian weaponization of disinformation to subvert and polarize free and open societies extends to every part of the world.”
Blinken claimed that the Russian government established RT with “cyber operational capabilities and ties to Russian intelligence.”
Copyright 2024, AmericanProsperity.com
