Meta and YouTube crack down on Russian media outlets

A sign at headquarters of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, in Menlo Park, California. The owner of Facebook and Instagram said it would bar Russian media outlets including RT, while YouTube is removing channels it had already blocked. — The New York Times

SAN FRANCISCO: Social media services are intensifying their crackdown on Russian media outlets including RT, the state-owned television network that has come under scrutiny in the United States, saying the outlets had carried out covert influence campaigns across social media sites to manipulate discourse online.

Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said Monday that a ban would take place in the coming days. The move escalates actions against Russian state media actors that US intelligence officials have said run disinformation operations across the world’s largest social networks.