Meta bans Russian state media for 'foreign interference'
Kremlin blasts Meta actions
White House declined comment
Covert operations blamed
Adds YouTube statement in paragraph 4
By Katie Paul
NEW YORK, Sept 17 (Reuters) -Facebook owner Meta META.O said on Monday it was banning RT, Rossiya Segodnya and other Russian state media networks from its platforms, claiming the outlets had used deceptive tactics to carry out covert influence operations online.
The ban, strongly criticised by the Kremlin, marks a sharp escalation in measures by the world's biggest social media company against Russian state media, after years of more limited steps such as blocking the outlets from running ads and reducing the reach of their posts.
"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," the social media company said in a written statement.
A spokesperson for Alphabet's GOOGL.O YouTube also said the company terminated over 230 channels affiliated with Rossiya Segodnya and AVO TV Novosti, which were already blocked from viewers.
In addition to Facebook, Meta's apps include Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads. Prior to the ban, RT had more than 7.2 million followers on Facebook and more than 1 million followers on Instagram.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday: "Meta is discrediting itself with these actions. Such selective actions against Russian media are unacceptable. ... This complicates prospects for normalising our relations with Meta."
Moscow branded Meta an "extremist" organisation in 2022 and blocked Instagram and Facebook, objecting to changes in Meta's hate speech policy designed to allow users to vent their anger over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Russia has also criticized previous efforts by Meta to limit the reach of Russian media and fined the company several times for not removing content in Russia it considers illegal.
Moscow's pre-existing bans on Instagram and Facebook may limit its ability to respond to Meta's state media block, but WhatsApp, which Russia has stopped short of banning so far, is used by millions of Russians.
Telegram Messenger, whose Russian founder Pavel Durov was placed under formal investigation in France last month, is also widely used in Russia.
VK Video, run by state-controlled tech firm VK VKCO.MM, offers an alternative to YouTube, which has come under pressure in Russia over its own efforts to block Russian state media.
The White House declined to comment on Meta's move, which came after the United States filed money-laundering charges against two RT employees for what officials said was a scheme to hire an American company to produce online content to influence the 2024 election.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that countries should treat RT's activities as they do covert intelligence operations.
RT has mocked the U.S. actions and accused the United States of trying to prevent the broadcaster from operating as a journalistic organisation.
In briefing materials shared with Reuters, Meta said it had seen Russian state-controlled media try to evade detection in their online activities in the past and expected them to continue trying to engage in deceptive practices going forward.
Reporting by Katie Paul in New York; Additional reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt in Washington, Dmitry Antonov in Moscow and Alexander Marrow in London; Editing by Sonali Paul, Ros Russell, Mark Porter and Alistair Bell
Aset Berkaitan
Berita Terkini
Penafian: Entiti XM Group menyediakan perkhidmatan pelaksanaan sahaja dan akses ke Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian, yang membolehkan sesorang melihat dan/atau menggunakan kandungan yang ada di dalam atau melalui laman web, tidak bertujuan untuk mengubah atau memperluas, juga tidak mengubah atau mengembangkannya. Akses dan penggunaan tersebut tertakluk kepada: (i) Terma dan Syarat; (ii) Amaran Risiko; dan Penafian Penuh. Oleh itu, kandungan sedemikian disediakan tidak lebih dari sekadar maklumat umum. Terutamanya, perlu diketahui bahawa kandungan Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian bukan permintaan, atau tawaran untuk melakukan transaksi dalam pasaran kewangan. Berdagang dalam mana-mana pasaran kewangan melibatkan tahap risiko yang besar terhadap modal anda.
Semua bahan yang diterbitkan di Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian kami bertujuan hanya untuk tujuan pendidikan/maklumat dan tidak mengandungi – dan tidak boleh dianggap mengandungi nasihat kewangan, cukai pelaburan atau dagangan dan cadangan, atau rekod harga dagangan kami, atau tawaran, atau permintaan untuk suatu transaksi dalam sebarang instrumen kewangan atau promosi kewangan yang tidak diminta kepada anda.
Sebarang kandungan pihak ketiga serta kandungan yang disediakan oleh XM, seperti pendapat, berita, penyelidikan, analisis, harga, maklumat lain atau pautan ke laman web pihak ketiga yang terdapat dalam laman web ini disediakan berdasarkan "seadanya" sebagai ulasan pasaran umum dan bukanlah nasihat pelaburan. Sesuai dengan apa-apa kandungan yang ditafsir sebagai penyelidikan pelaburan, anda mestilah ambil perhatian dan menerima bahawa kandungan tersebut tidak bertujuan dan tidak sediakan berdasarkan keperluan undang-undang yang direka untuk mempromosikan penyelidikan pelaburan bebas dan oleh itu, ia dianggap sebagai komunikasi pemasaran di bawah peraturan dan undang-undang yang berkaitan. SIla pastikan bahawa anda telah membaca dan memahami Notifikasi mengenai Penyelidikan Pelaburan Bukan Bebas dan Amaran Risiko mengenai maklumat di atas yang boleh diakses di sini.
