ALBAWABA – Meta, the American multinational technology conglomerate that owns and operates Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp, announced banning the channels of RT, the Russian state-controlled international news television network funded by the Russian government, across all its applications globally.
Meta bans RT, other state channels
Meta said the decision was made as part of the company’s commitment to combating misinformation and fake news, as the television network got engaged in misleading influence campaigns and attempted to avoid detection.
A Meta spokesman said: "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 said in its statement that all the accounts of the news television network will stay banned permanently across all Meta platforms. (Shutterstock)
It is worth noting that RT had 7.2 million followers on Facebook and 1 million followers on Instagram hours before the ban. Meta said in its statement that all the accounts of the news television network will stay banned permanently across all Meta platforms.
Washington tried to ban RT
US officials launched a campaign previously to ban RT channels globally. Sources revealed that Washington urged the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to join its campaign against what they called: "Russian disinformation.”
Antony Blinken, United States Secretary of State, stated earlier: “Russian weaponization of disinformation to subvert and polarize free and open societies extends to every part of the world. We urge every ally, every partner, to start by treating RT's activities as they do other intelligence activities by Russia within their borders.”
Moreover, the US Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions on Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Russian broadcaster RT, and her deputies, Anton Anisimov and Elizaveta Brodskaya, in September 2024. RT was accused for funneling almost $10 million into a US company—identified by CNN as Tenet Media— to create and promote content aligned with Russian interests and influence the US presidential elections.
