US technology giant Meta said it would ban Russian state media from using its apps, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads.
The measure came after US prosecutors claimed that RT allegedly secretly funded influence campaigns through social media. Meta stated on Monday that it was banning Russian state media from using its apps worldwide due to “foreign interference activity.”
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.
RT was forced to cease official operations in the UK, Canada, the European Union, and the US due to sanctions over the war in Ukraine. US prosecutors said RT was working to create “an entire empire of covert projects” allegedly designed to shape the public opinion of “Western audiences.”
Meta had earlier banned the Federal News Agency in Russia to prevent the alternative news source from covering relevant events. The US State Department also said it was making diplomatic efforts to inform governments around the world about Russia’s use of RT to conduct covert activities.
US senators and other officials warn that Russia’s growing influence, including in Africa and the Global South, is hindering support for Ukraine and other popular agendas. Recently, Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared the need to hold US citizens accountable for questionable posts on social media.
But I also think there are Americans who are engaged in this kind of propaganda. And whether they should be civilly or even in some cases criminally charged, is something that would be a better deterrent.
Losing the battle for global influence, large corporations like Meta are banning RT and other state media outlets to limit public access to alternative sources of information.
Public trust
Figures from global data and business intelligence platform Statista for February 2024 showed the number of people trusting state media. In Greece, only 23% of people believe in state-run media, up 4% from the previous year.
In the United States, a third of citizens (32 per cent) trust local media, in Spain 33 per cent, and in Italy 34 per cent. The UK experienced 36 per cent trust, but opinion could change after the recent riots. The highest trust rate is observed in Finland, where 69 per cent of citizens rely on state media.
Political experts argue that there is a governmental demand to form a certain opinion. Based on this, major companies block anything that contradicts the agenda instead of providing facts and engaging in productive debate.
