Facebook is "restricting access" to Russian state media outlets RT and Sputnik News for users in the European Union, citing a demand from European leaders, who are seeking to crack down on Russian disinformation.
“We have received requests from a number of Governments and the EU to take further steps in relation to Russian state controlled media,” Meta VP for Global Affairs Nick Clegg said in a tweet on Monday. “Given the exceptional nature of the current situation, we will be restricting access to RT and Sputnik across the EU at this time."
In addition to Facebook, Meta also own Instagram and WhatsApp. However, Meta has yet to elaborate on what the restricted access will actually look like.
Yesterday, the European Commission announced it would ban the “Kremlin’s media machine” in the EU for circulating alleged disinformation about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to internet users on the continent.
“The state-owned Russia Today and Sputnik, as well as their subsidiaries will no longer be able to spread their lies to justify Putin's war and to sow division in our Union,” said Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a speech. “So we are developing tools to ban their toxic and harmful disinformation in Europe.”
On the same day, the prime ministers of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland sent letters to the biggest social media companies, demanding they comply with new restrictions banning RT, Sputnik, and other Russia state-owned media outlets from using their services in the EU.
In addition, the letter calls on US tech companies to “proactively” suspend accounts found to be justifying or glorifying wars of aggression, and to also shut down social media accounts belonging to government institutions and officials from Russia and its ally Belarus.
“It’s time for Big Tech companies to earnestly join the fight against war propaganda and disinformation,” tweeted Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas.
We’ve reached out to Twitter and Google, which owns YouTube, for comment, and we’ll update if we hear back. In the meantime, Twitter has announced a new policy to prominently label tweets that contain links to websites from Russia's state media.
The goal is to make it easy for Twitter users to see that the link comes from a state-owned media organization. “As people look for credible information on Twitter regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we understand and take our role seriously,” Hide of Site Integrity Yoel Roth said. “Our product should make it easy to understand who’s behind the content you see, and what their motivations and intentions are.”