Meta said it has banned Kremlin-run state media outlet Russia Today as well as other networks controlled by the regime of President Vladimir Putin due to alleged “foreign interference activity.”
Russia-based broadcasters and web sites such as RT, Rossiya Segodnya and other affiliated media outlets will no longer be available to users of Meta’s social networks including Facebook and Instagram.
“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 spokesperson said in a statement.
Before Monday’s ban, RT boasted 7.2 million followers on Facebook as well as 1 million on Instagram.
Meta’s ban comes just days after the State Department alleged that RT, Rossiya Segodnya and its employees “have directly coordinated with the Kremlin to support Russian government efforts to influence” elections in Moldova in an effort to “foment unrest” in the former Soviet republic.
The State Department also alleged that RT engages in crowdfunding operations in order to “procure lethal aid for the Russian military in Ukraine.”
“RT uses proxy outlets that purport to be independent from Russia to covertly disseminate content and messaging globally and to evade western responses to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine,” the State Department alleged.
Earlier this month, the Justice Department announced indictments against two RT employees who are alleged to have funneled $9.7 million to Tennessee-based digital outlet Tenet Media in order to influence content put out by American podcasters.
The federal government has alleged that the money was intended to fund pro-Russia propaganda in hopes of influencing the outcome of this fall’s presidential election.
An RT spokesperson told The Post: “It’s cute how there’s a competition in the West — who can try to spank RT the hardest, in order to make themselves look better.”
The RT representative added that Meta “already blocked RT in Europe two years ago.”
The Post has sought comment from Rossiya Segodnya and the Russian government.
The Biden administration claims that the Kremlin is undertaking influence operations in the US to help former President Donald Trump defeat Vice President Kamala Harris in the race for the White House.
Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Meta, is scheduled to testify on Capitol Hill this week alongside executives from Google and Microsoft.
The Senate Intelligence Committee plans to quiz the tech executives on how they plan to deal with alleged foreign threats to the election.