Kremlin slams Meta’s ban on Russian state media outlets

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) - The Kremlin on Tuesday slammed Meta, the parent company of social media platforms Instagram and Facebook, for its ban on Russian state media networks from its platforms.

“Such selective actions against Russian media are unacceptable. We have an extremely negative attitude towards this,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a press briefing in the capital Moscow.

Describing the decision as “an outright discrediting of Meta” itself, Peskov said this complicates the prospects for normalizing its ties with the company.

Meta, owned by billionaire Mark Zuckerberg, on Monday said it was banning RT, Rossiya Segodnya and other Russian state media networks from its platforms for “foreign interference activity.”

The move came after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced new sanctions on Friday against RT, formerly known as Russia Today, claiming that it possessed cyber capabilities and engaged in “covert information influence operations and military procurement."

Earlier this month, US authorities unsealed an indictment against two employees of RT and seized 32 internet domains on accusations of interference in the November presidential election.

Russia has denied any attempts to interfere in the vote, dismissing the charges.