Meta's ban on Russian state media outlets 'unacceptable': Kremlin

MOSCOW

The Kremlin has slammed as "unacceptable" Meta's decision to ban Russian state media outlets from its apps, after the U.S. social media giant accused them of "foreign interference activity."

"With this action Meta discredits itself. Such actions against Russian media are unacceptable," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Peskov’s remarks came a day after Meta said it's banning Russia state media organization from its social media platforms, alleging that the outlets used deceptive tactics to amplify Moscow's propaganda.

“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 statement.

Meta's actions comes days after the United States announced new sanctions on RT, accusing the Kremlin news outlet of being a key part of Russia’s war machine and its efforts to undermine its democratic adversaries.

U.S. officials alleged last week that RT was working hand-in-hand with the Russian military and running fundraising campaigns to pay for sniper rifles, body armor and other equipment for soldiers fighting in Ukraine. They also said RT websites masqueraded as legitimate news sites but were used to spread disinformation and propaganda in Europe, Africa, South America and elsewhere.

Moscow has rejected the allegations.

Two years ago, Meta took steps to limit Moscow's online influence by taking down a sprawling disinformation network originating in Russia that sought to use hundreds of fake social media accounts and dozens of sham news websites to spread Kremlin talking points about the invasion of Ukraine.