Meta said late on Monday it is banning a range of Russian state media networks due to what it calls "foreign interference activity."

The list of banned outlets includes RT, Rossiya Segodnya and others, with the company claiming the media networks had used deceptive tactics to carry out covert influence operations online.

"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 company said in a statement.

Escalation to thwart interference

After years of taking more limited steps against Russian state media, such as limiting the reach of their posts, the ban marks an escalation in the Facebook and Instagram owner's actions.

Meta is the world's biggest social media company. It owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

The company previously banned the Federal News Agency in Russia to thwart foreign interference activities by the Russian Internet Research Agency.

The US State Department said in September it works towards informing governments around the world about Russia's use of RT to conduct covert activities and encouraged them to limit "Russia's ability to interfere in foreign elections."

RT has already had to stop formal operations in the UK, Canada, and the European Union due to sanctions put in place after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, according to a US indictment against the media company. It has been charged with money laundering over a scheme to produce content to influence the upcoming presidential election.

US prosecutors quoted an RT editor-in-chief as saying it designed an "entire empire of covert projects" in order to influence "Western audiences."

ftm/jsi (Reuters, AFP)