Meta bans Russia's state media outlets

Platform cites foreign interference

- KELVIN CHAN

Meta said it's banning Russia state media organization from its social media platforms, alleging the outlets used deceptive tactics to amplify Moscow's propaganda.

The announcement drew a rebuke from the Kremlin on Tuesday.

The company, which owns Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, said late Monday it will roll out the ban over the next few days in an escalation of its efforts to counter Russia's covert influence operations.

"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," Meta said in a prepared statement.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov lashed out, saying "such selective actions against Russian media are unacceptable," and that "Meta with these actions are discrediting themselves."