Meta stopped recommending content from Russian state media to all Facebook users, and soon to Instagram, as the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine continues.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Meta executives said Russian government-related media had been downgraded to Facebook’s main show and was no longer algorithmically recommended anywhere on the social network. Instagram is also in the process of blocking all Russian state media recommendations worldwide, executives said, adding that links to Russian-influenced publications will be labeled in both apps.
The move comes after the Russian government last week began restricting Internet access to Facebook and Instagram in the country because Meta refused to stop labeling and verifying state media facts. Since then, Meta has blocked Russian state media RT and Sputnik in the EU and Ukraine, removed a Russian disinformation campaign spreading false news about the war, and blocked the ability of Russian state media to make money on its platform.
Stopping the spread of Russian state-owned media worldwide on its platform is a sharp escalation by Meta against the country, and perhaps for the first time it is taking such action against state-controlled media everywhere. “This is unprecedented in terms of doing this in the official state media, at least as far as I know,” said Katie Harbat, a former political director at Facebook. On the edge. “There were downloads of subjects related to things like The Epoch Times, but nothing state-owned. ”
Speaking to reporters, Meta Global Affairs President Nick Clegg said Russia’s move to limit its services through local ISPs has made it particularly difficult to play videos on Facebook and Instagram. “The deterioration in service is definitely noticeable,” he said, adding that throttling could be more extreme by the end of the day. We just don’t know. “