“After careful consideration, we have expanded our ongoing crackdown on Russian state media. “Rossija Segodňa (in the English version of Russia Today – editor’s note), RT, and other related entities are now globally banned in our applications due to foreign interference activities,” the spokeswoman for Meta said in a statement. Among the banned brands was the Russian agency Sputnik, among others.
Before Monday’s ban, the station RT had 7.2 million followers on Facebook and 1 million followers on Instagram. Already after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Meta cut off the Russian state media from the profits from advertising on its platforms.
Meta’s announcement comes at a time of increased pressure from American authorities on this Russian media concern. A few days ago, the US Department of Justice announced the indictment of two RT employees for directing nearly $10 million to the US company Tenet Media to create and distribute content that is in line with Russian interests, the US station CNN noted. Leading commentators of the conservative company Tenet Media have already issued statements that they have become “victims” of a Russian conspiracy.
On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, among other RT executives, accused him of running online fundraisers with the aim of obtaining military equipment for Russian soldiers in Ukraine.
