Moscow furious as Meta bans Russian state media networks

STORY: Facebook owner Meta announced it's banning Russian state media from its platforms, drawing strong criticisms from Moscow on Tuesday (September 17).

That includes RT and Rossiya Segodnya, with the company citing deceptive tactics used to carry out covert influence operations online.

The ban marks a sharp escalation from Meta against Russian state media.

Until now, the world’s biggest social media company only limited ad capabilities and reduced the reach of their posts.

In a statement Meta 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."

It also said enforcement of the ban would roll out over the coming days.

Meta's apps also include Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads.

The decision follows the U.S. filing money-laundering charges against two RT employees.

Washington alleges the two hired an American company to produce content aimed at influencing the 2024 presidential election.

Days ago Secretary of State Antony Blinken equated RT's activities to covert intelligence operations.

"They are engaged in covert influence activities aimed at undermining American elections in democracies functioning like a de facto arm of Russia's intelligence apparatus. Today, we're announcing that these Kremlin backed media outlets are not only playing this covert influence role to undermine democracy in the United States, but also to meddle in the sovereign affairs of countries around the world."

Moscow responded by saying Meta's move discredited itself.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on a conference call, "Such selective actions against Russian media are unacceptable."

Adding that, "this complicates prospects for normalizing our relations with Meta."

In briefing materials shared with Reuters, Meta said it had seen Russian state-controlled media attempting to evade detection online and anticipated continued deceptive practices.