LONDON: Russia on Tuesday reacted strongly to Meta’s announcement that it was banning Russian state media from its social media platforms, accusing it of using “subversive tactics” to promote its propaganda. Meta, which operates platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, said late Monday that it would impose the ban in the next few days, stepping up its efforts to counter Russia’s covert operations.
Meta said in a statement, “After careful consideration, we expanded our enforcement action against the Russian government media institution. Rossiya Segodnya, RT and other related entities are now banned from our app globally for foreign interference activities.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov strongly criticized the move, saying, “Such selective action against Russian media is unacceptable and Meta is discrediting itself with these actions.”
“We have an extremely negative attitude towards this. And this, of course, complicates the prospects for normalizing our relations with Meta,” Peskov told reporters. Meta’s action comes days after the United States announced new sanctions on RT, accusing the Kremlin-backed news organization of being a key part of Russia’s war apparatus and efforts to undermine its democratic opponents. U.S. officials last week alleged that RT was working closely with the Russian military and running fundraising campaigns to pay for sniper rifles, body armor and other equipment for Russian troops fighting in Ukraine.
