Russian officials are accusing Meta of “overt censorship” after the company banned Russian state media networks from its apps.
RT, Rossiya Segodnya and other state media accounts were blocked around the world over claims they carried out covert operations to influence social media users.
The Russian Embassy in the UK has now told Sky News the ban “casts doubt on the so-called democratic principles and values that the West claims to uphold”, adding that “Russia maintains a steadfast policy of non-interference in the internal matters of other nations”.
“We would like to reaffirm that Russia maintains a steadfast policy of non-interference in the internal matters of other nations,” the embassy added.
“We regard the recent measures taken by Meta against RT as an overt act of censorship, which casts doubt on the so-called democratic principles and values that the West claims to uphold.”
Their accusations of censorship mirror RT’s, who told Sky News, “It’s cute how there’s a competition in the West – who can try to spank RT the hardest in order to make themselves look better”.
“Meta/Facebook already blocked RT in Europe two years ago, now they’re censoring information flow to the rest of the world.”
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The RT news Facebook page was unavailable following the Meta ban. Pic: Meta/Reuters
Meta had already restricted the reach and advertising capabilities of the accounts, but further action came days after the US Department of Justice accused RT of deceiving social media users.
In an indictment against the company, the US officials said RT had released thousands of English language videos through an English language account while hiding the fact they had been produced by RT.
American officials then accused RT of carrying out covert information warfare operations around the world on behalf of Russia’s spy agencies.
The RIA Novosti Instagram page was unavailable. Pic: Meta/Reuters
James Rubin, coordinator for the State Department’s Global Engagement Center, said RT is “where propaganda, disinformation and lies are spread to millions, if not billions, of people around the world”.
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A spokesperson for YouTube said they have also terminated more than 230 channels affiliated with Rossiya Segodnya and AVO TV Novosti, which were already blocked from viewers.
Meta did not comment on accusations of censorship when asked by Sky News.
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In briefing materials shared with Reuters, however, Meta said it had seen Russian state-controlled media try to evade detection in their online activities in the past and expected them to continue trying to engage in deceptive practices going forward.
Those concerns were then justified by RT.
The news organisation told Sky News after the ban: “Don’t worry, where they close a door, and then a window, our ‘partisans’ (or in your parlance, guerrilla fighters) will find the cracks to crawl through – as by your own admission we are apt at doing.”