Meta blocks RT days after US accuses Russian channel of disinformation

Social media giant Meta announced on Monday that it was banning Russian media outlet RT, days after the Biden administration accused RT of operating as an arm of Moscow’s spy agencies.

“After careful consideration, we have expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state-owned media outlets. Rossiya Segodnya, RT, and other affiliated entities are now banned from our apps worldwide for foreign disruptive activity,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement.

The Biden administration announced new sanctions on Friday, with a State Department official calling the media outlet a “full-fledged member of the Russian government’s intelligence apparatus and operations” amid the war in Ukraine.

U.S. officials at the time accused RT of conducting covert information warfare operations around the world on behalf of Russian spy agencies.

James Rubin, coordinator of the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, said RT is “a place where propaganda, disinformation, and lies are spread to millions, if not billions, of people around the world.”

According to US officials, some of RT’s activities are kept secret.

U.S. officials say that in Africa, RT is behind an Internet platform called “African Stream” but conceals its role; that in Germany it secretly runs a Berlin-based English-language website known as “Red”; and that in France it has employed a journalist in Paris to pursue “influence projects” aimed at French-speaking audiences.

The Biden administration is imposing sanctions on the state-funded broadcaster that oversees RT, TV-Novosti, another state media company Rossiya Segodnya and its director Dmitry Kiselyov, the officials said.

The United States has previously accused Russia of trying to interfere in the U.S. election by sowing discord and division. In 2018, the U.S. Justice Department announced indictments against 12 Russian citizens for cybercrimes aimed at interfering in the 2016 election, including hacking into Democratic National Committee computers and stealing emails.

Russia has denied conducting information operations aimed at interfering in U.S. elections or the politics of other countries.

YouTube on Monday also removed hundreds of channels linked to media outlets backed by the Russian government, a spokesperson confirmed to NBC News.

“As part of our ongoing commitment to comply with applicable U.S. government sanctions, we have closed over 230 channels affiliated with AVO TV Novosti and Rossiya Segodnya, all of which have already been blocked from viewers,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.

The platform began blocking state-sponsored Russian news channels worldwide in 2022, including those affiliated with RT and Sputnik. Over the years, the platform has blocked thousands of channels and millions of videos, according to YouTube.

Meta also began restricting Russian state-controlled media two years ago. Enforcement of the ban announced Monday is expected to begin in the next few days.

Meta apps include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads.