KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Meta Platforms reportedly is removing Russian TV channel RT from its apps, including Instagram and Facebook, citing “foreign interference activity” by the Kremlin-backed outlet.
- Meta said Russia is trying to deploy social media to influence public opinion, The Wall Street Journal said.
- The ban on RT comes just days after the U.S. government announced sanctions against the state-owned channel.
Meta Platforms (META) is removing Russian TV channel RT from its apps, including Instagram and Facebook, citing “foreign interference activity” by the Kremlin-backed outlet, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Meta said Russia is trying to deploy social media to influence public opinion, the report said, just days after the U.S. government announced sanctions against the state-owned channel.
Secretary of State Blinken Accused RT of Undermining US Elections
In announcing the sanctions, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said RT and others are engaged in “covert influence activities aimed at undermining American elections and democracies, functioning like a de facto arm of Russia’s intelligence apparatus.”
Cached versions of RT’s Facebook and Instagram pages page early Tuesday on the Google search engine had more than 7.3 million and 1.1 million followers, respectively, according to the Journal.
Meta didn’t immediately return an Investopedia request for comment.
Meta shares are up less than 1% about 30 minutes before the opening bell Tuesday. They have gained 50% this year.