Meta prohibits RT and other Russian media outlets due to “foreign interference activity.”
The ban is the result of allegations from the White House that Russia is utilising RT to influence the U.S. Presidential election.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, announced on Monday night that it is prohibiting the publication of RT and other Russian media outlets. This decision came after a week of significant news from the White House. The news involved RT’s role in Russian influence campaigns, new sanctions, and numerous arrests linked to the Kremlin-backed news agency.
Over the past two weeks, the White House has targeted Russian election interference in anticipation of the November Presidential election. The Justice Department’s announcement that two RT employees had spent $10 million commissioning videos from a variety of right-wing influencers, including Tim Pool, was a small but humiliating beginning. Additional sanctions, indictments, and accusations ensued.
One of the more severe accusations was that RT was providing material support and munitions to Russia’s war effort in Ukraine. RT conducted a crowdfunding campaign on social media. They used the funds to acquire firearms. These firearms were dispatched to combatants on the front lines, according to the Justice Department. Justice stated in a press release that military equipment and supplies are imported in small quantities. This includes sniper rifles, suppressors, personal weapon sights, body armor, apparel, night-vision equipment, drones, radio equipment, and diesel generators. The small quantities are meant to prevent unnecessary scrutiny.
The talking heads at RT soon disclosed the game. This was despite Putin’s initial denial that Russia was intervening in the American election. On September 8, Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of RT, made a statement during a television chat show. She said that RT adheres exclusively to the orders of the Kremlin. She asked, “Listen, my comrades, what is your opinion—that I receive orders from the CIA?” She questioned where she would obtain directives if she was the head of a Russian state media entity funded by the state.
Following its incursion of Ukraine in 2022, the Kremlin prohibited Meta from operating Facebook and Instagram in the country. Subsequently, a Moscow court determined that Meta was culpable of “extremist activity,” but it permitted WhatsApp to continue operating within the nation.
CREDIT: Allneeds, Legit