Meta bans Russian state media outlet RT over 'foreign interference activity'

The Meta logo is seen at the Vivatech show in Paris, France, June 14, 2023. (Thibault Camus/AP Photo)

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced Monday that it has banned Russian state media broadcaster RT and other Kremlin-controlled networks, alleging the outlets have engaged in deceptive influence operations and attempted 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,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement.

Prior to Monday’s ban, RT had 7.2 million followers on Facebook and 1 million followers on Instagram.

RT did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment.

The move comes days after the U.S. Justice Department announced charges against two RT employees for funnelling nearly US$10 million into a U.S. company, identified by CNN as Tenet Media, to create and amplify content that aligned with Russian interests. The covert influence campaign was aimed at the American public ahead of the 2024 US presidential election, U.S. officials said.

Tenet Media boasts a slate of high-profile right-wing, pro-Trump commentators including Tim Pool, Dave Rubin, Benny Johnson and several others. All of them have released statements saying they were victims of the alleged Russian scheme.

After the U.S. Justice Department announcement, RT responded with mocking statements that did not address the specifics of the U.S. allegations.

The Justice Department indictment was just one piece of the recent US government crackdown on RT and other Russian state mouthpieces. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday accused RT’s leaders of running an online crowdfunding effort to supply military equipment to Russian soldiers in Ukraine.

Meta’s ban on RT comes after years of a cat-and-mouse game between the American social media giant and Russian state actors. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Meta blocked Russian state-run media from running ads on its platform.

Executives from Meta, Microsoft and Alphabet, which owns Google, are expected to testify before the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday on their platforms’ work to combat foreign threats to U.S. elections.