Facebook blocks RT and Sputnik pages in the EU

On Mar 1, 2022

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has blocked Russian state media outlets RT and Sputnik across the European Union, the company said Monday. The change means that the RT and Sputnik pages aren’t visible in the EU on Facebook and Instagram, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone tells The Verge.

“We have received requests from a number of Governments and the EU to take further steps in relation to Russian state controlled media,” Nick Clegg, the company’s newly-named president of global affairs, said Monday on Twitter. “Given the exceptional nature of the current situation, we will be restricting access to RT and Sputnik across the EU at this time.”

We have received requests from a number of Governments and the EU to take further steps in relation to Russian state controlled media. Given the exceptional nature of the current situation, we will be restricting access to RT and Sputnik across the EU at this time.

— Nick Clegg (@nickclegg) February 28, 2022

The change is the latest Meta has made in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On Sunday, Clegg said the company had limited access to “several accounts” in Ukraine, “including those belonging to some Russian state media organizations.” The action announced Monday goes wider by limiting access to two major outlets across all of the EU.

The company has also blocked Russian state media from advertising on the platform and removed a Russian misinformation network distributing fake news about the invasion. However, Russia has partially blocked access to Facebook, and Clegg said Sunday that Russia has been “throttling” its platform. Russia has also blocked access to Twitter.