Tue Sep 17 06:28:51 UTC 2024: ## Meta Bans Russian News Networks, Including RT, Citing “Foreign Interference”

**San Francisco, CA -** Tech giant Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, has banned several Russian news networks, including RT (formerly Russia Today), from its platforms. This action, implemented globally over the next several days, follows the US government’s sanctioning of RT last week, accusing it of functioning as a “de facto arm of Russian intelligence”.

Meta’s decision cites “foreign interference activity” as the rationale for the ban. The move comes after the EU and several Western nations also banned RT following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022.

Moscow has denounced the ban as an act of information warfare, arguing that it exposes America’s inability to compete fairly with Russian media. US officials, however, express frustration with RT’s role in promoting an alternative narrative to Washington-backed perspectives on international affairs.

“One of the reasons – not the only reason – why so much of the world has not been as fully supportive of Ukraine as you would think they would be…is because of the broad scope and reach of RT, where propaganda, disinformation, and lies are spread to millions if not billions around the world,” stated State Department spokesman Jamie Rubin.

RT Editor-in-Chief Margarita Simonyan responded to the allegations with sarcasm, suggesting the US was simply projecting its own behavior. “Seriously? Did you run out of mirrors?” she asked, mocking the American claims.

This move comes amidst ongoing legal issues between Meta and Russia. Meta’s exemptions to its hate speech rules, allowing Ukrainians to call for violence against Russians and praise nationalist fighters, led Moscow to label Meta an extremist organization and ban Facebook and Instagram in Russia.

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