Meta and YouTube Ban Russian State Media for 'Foreign Interference' (cnn.com) 58
Meta (the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads) announced Monday that Russian state media outlets like RT are now "banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity," reports CNN.
CNN adds that Meta is alleging that the "Kremlin-controlled networks" have "engaged in deceptive influence operations and attempted to evade detection... Prior to Monday's ban, RT had 7.2 million followers on Facebook and 1 million followers on Instagram." The move comes days after the US Justice Department announced charges against two RT employees for funneling nearly $10 million into a US company, identified by CNN as Tenet Media, to create and amplify content that aligned with Russian interests. The covert influence campaign was aimed at the American public ahead of the 2024 US presidential election, US officials said.
Last week the U.S. State department "revealed declassified U.S. intelligence findings that suggest RT is fully integrated into Russia's intelligence operations around the world," CNN reported earlier" In addition to its covert influence operations, the leaders of RT also administered an online crowdfunding effort to supply military equipment to Russian soldiers in Ukraine, Blinken alleged. The crowdfunding effort supplied "sniper rifles, suppressors, body armor, night vision equipment, drones, radio equipment, personal weapon sights, diesel generators" to Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine, according to Blinken.
The goal of the U.S. announcement — and private discussions with allied diplomats — is to make sure that countries know that RT and Russian intelligence agencies are working together to sow division and harm democratic processes, while simultaneously making it much more difficult for RT to operate globally, a senior administration official said...
Asked for comment by CNN, RT responded with a mocking email that read in part: "We've been broadcasting straight out of the KGB headquarters all this time."
More from Reuters: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that countries should treat RT's activities as they do covert intelligence operations... In briefing materials shared with Reuters, Meta said it had seen Russian state-controlled media try to evade detection in their online activities in the past and expected them to continue trying to engage in deceptive practices going forward.
A YouTube spokesperson told Reuters they've also terminated over 230 channels affiliated with Kremlin-controlled outlets — channels which were previously only blocked from viewers.
YouTube "began blocking Russian state-sponsored news channels globally in 2022," reports NBC News, "including those tied to RT and Sputnik. Over the years, according to YouTube, the platform has blocked thousands of channels and millions of videos." James Rubin, coordinator for the State Department's Global Engagement Center, said RT is "where propaganda, disinformation and lies are spread to millions, if not billions, of people around the world."
CNN adds that Meta is alleging that the "Kremlin-controlled networks" have "engaged in deceptive influence operations and attempted to evade detection... Prior to Monday's ban, RT had 7.2 million followers on Facebook and 1 million followers on Instagram." The move comes days after the US Justice Department announced charges against two RT employees for funneling nearly $10 million into a US company, identified by CNN as Tenet Media, to create and amplify content that aligned with Russian interests. The covert influence campaign was aimed at the American public ahead of the 2024 US presidential election, US officials said.
Last week the U.S. State department "revealed declassified U.S. intelligence findings that suggest RT is fully integrated into Russia's intelligence operations around the world," CNN reported earlier" In addition to its covert influence operations, the leaders of RT also administered an online crowdfunding effort to supply military equipment to Russian soldiers in Ukraine, Blinken alleged. The crowdfunding effort supplied "sniper rifles, suppressors, body armor, night vision equipment, drones, radio equipment, personal weapon sights, diesel generators" to Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine, according to Blinken.
The goal of the U.S. announcement — and private discussions with allied diplomats — is to make sure that countries know that RT and Russian intelligence agencies are working together to sow division and harm democratic processes, while simultaneously making it much more difficult for RT to operate globally, a senior administration official said...
Asked for comment by CNN, RT responded with a mocking email that read in part: "We've been broadcasting straight out of the KGB headquarters all this time."
More from Reuters: U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that countries should treat RT's activities as they do covert intelligence operations... In briefing materials shared with Reuters, Meta said it had seen Russian state-controlled media try to evade detection in their online activities in the past and expected them to continue trying to engage in deceptive practices going forward.
A YouTube spokesperson told Reuters they've also terminated over 230 channels affiliated with Kremlin-controlled outlets — channels which were previously only blocked from viewers.
YouTube "began blocking Russian state-sponsored news channels globally in 2022," reports NBC News, "including those tied to RT and Sputnik. Over the years, according to YouTube, the platform has blocked thousands of channels and millions of videos." James Rubin, coordinator for the State Department's Global Engagement Center, said RT is "where propaganda, disinformation and lies are spread to millions, if not billions, of people around the world."
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This is slashdot not a political forum full of democrats
You're sitting at -1 right now, so I'm not so sure about that . . .
Media with an orange tint (Score:1, Troll)
where propaganda, disinformation and lies are spread to millions, if not billions, of people around the world.
It's really sad when a certain group of Americans argue that manipulating, lying and deception should be considered free speech.
Re:Media with an orange tint (Score:5, Insightful)
Fox News.
And free speech does include manipulating, lying and deception. What's much worse is that "a certain group of Americans" now thinks the President should be immune to commit any crime, that the immunity extends to prevent even the collection of evidence, and further extends to cover when that President is not even in office.
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Democracy does not work when half of the country is actively working to tear it down.
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RINO must be banned.
We need Real Republicans, not the offbrand Orange Flavor Aid. Make Republican Great Again won't happen until then.
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Fox News.
And free speech does include manipulating, lying and deception. What's much worse is that "a certain group of Americans" now thinks the President should be immune to commit any crime, that the immunity extends to prevent even the collection of evidence, and further extends to cover when that President is not even in office.
You see it's ok to break the law as long as the right, white people do it.
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Fox News.
And free speech does include manipulating, lying and deception.
That's not true, though. Manipulation, lying and deception are all forms of fraud. Fraudulent speech has a cost. If it has a cost, it's not free. Therefore, none of manipulation, lying or deception should be considered free speech.
Re:Media with an orange tint (Score:5, Informative)
manipulating, lying and deception should be considered free speech.
I mean it's within American free speech laws that you are allowed to do that, even as a foreign country.
The part that's illegal is not declaring that you are in fact a foreign actor doing it. As an example Tenet Media isn't under indictment for misinformation, they violated FARA by hiding it behind an American company (anyone heard from Lauren Chen and her husband lately? I think there's more coming off of that story.)
foreign influence like district attorneys (Score:1, Troll)
https://www.washingtontimes.co... [washingtontimes.com]
George Soros, billionaire, funded hundreds of county level district attorney election candidates in the US to 'disrupt' the USA.
Those district attorneys are now in office as public officials....
Re:foreign influence like district attorneys (Score:5)
Cool, so pass a law to overturn Citizen's United and ban any PAC's right?
I also can assume you are just as upset that a foreign national used foreign funds to purchase and then privatize a public social media site and use it to directly push their personal political agenda right? Just checking for consistency here, we should outlaw such things and reverse that correct?
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George Soros is a tiny drop of water compared to the flood of influence towards GOP candidates; like the Koch brothers, but many many more. It leads to a change from grass roots politics to politics driven by vested interests. While GOP influence is sagging in voter demographics, it also has growing corporate funding. https://www.vox.com/2016/4/14/... [vox.com]
You even seen politicians who are distinctly to the right of their own voters, because they're more beholden to the money than to the voters. Because once
'foreign influence' (Score:1)
The foreign part is that a EU billionaire systemically disrupted city and county level district attorney offices in the usa.
If that worked and caused crime rates to increase, violent offenders to go free on bail, it is detriment to society.
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No, what's really sad is when manipulating, lying and deception are treated more favorably by the legal process than publicly calling someone who engages in these acts a manipulator, liar, or deceiver.
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They left the principles.
Re: Media with an orange tint (Score:1)
Only when those things are done by the US government, obviously
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Hate. You forgot to mention "hate" speech.
What is sad is that so much of the conputer/hacker subculture whuch used to be staunchly libertarian has become not just left but state propaganda parroting left.
And it's not a subculture either but a mainstream culture infested by VC-backed grifting.
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Why weren't they banned like 2 years ago? Shows you the priorities at Meta, eh?
I'm pretty sure they've had many, many videos removed from YouTube. They mostly use paid shills anyway.
"Paid shills" - sound like a mini HR1157, but it's OK when we do it.
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Fox News... I mean, you can't compare an insane conservative propaganda outlet pandering to conspiratards to a professional operation trying to influence useful idiots.
Much like Western media, the bias is more subtle, but there's a difference in that Putin's giving the orders. In the West, it's rarely the government that is determining what propaganda points to push.
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In soviet Russia... No... Wait... In corporatist America, propaganda influences government!
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Propagandists need to make sure all potential audiences are covered. You have Fox News which boomers turn on for entertainment when there isn't a football game on. I would imagine RT's audience trends younger and attracts more people who are seeking actual news. Hence it is designed to "look professional".
Re:If you want to know what they're saying... (Score:5, Insightful)
It doesn't seem to be any more or less biased than western state & private media.
Oh wow. You just compared a single source to the media both state owned and private of literally 50+ nations. I grant you that you are technically correct in that in the insanely wide array from hard right to hard left biased media, and highly factual to completely bonkers made up shit that constitutes your insanely wide comparison you're guaranteed to be able to say the same thing not only about RT but literally any media on the planet.
Now back in reality bias comes in two forms, political lean (in that regard RT is just right of centre along with many MANY other media companies), and factual bias, in which regard RT is a literal mouthpiece of the kremlin saying whatever they are told, and with a propensity to push literally any propaganda, fake news, and outright made up bullshit that would make Alex Jones weep with joy.
In reality Fox News makes these guys look sane. You know, running articles talking about how the EU is calling for a nuclear war with Russia, how the Ukraine is running concentration camps filled with civilians, how the Ukraine is flying in terrorists from the middle east and sneaking them into Russia, and that's just the lies, there's actual classical propaganda as well such as video feeds of NATO equipment being blown up, military recruitment stories, and how good Russia will be for all those African nations.
Also fuck you for making me say something positive about Fox News.
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Also fuck you for making me say something positive about Fox News.
I LOLd, and agree.
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A low information network is of course the thing that a low information president would watch. Which is why those tweets were at 2am, because that's when low information president was watching fox instead of listening to advisors who were asleep. Follow up with the phone in to Fox morning show ("let me interrupt your show and news for an hour because I love to talk and my family refuses to talk to me anymore and you're the only friends I have left, and besides it's all about me, isn't it?").
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Because he's an idiot that jumps on anything he thinks can rile up his base. That makes him and Fox News very VERY different from RT and Putin. Trump repeats whatever he hears on Fox News. RT repeats what they are told to be Trump.
In the USA the tail wags the dog, in Russia the dog has a gun to his head and will wag when he's told to.
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That doesn't sound that much different than the American media version, only the sides are switched.
With the classical difference being that when you switch the sides you also switch from made up bullshit to truth. Sure not with every topic, but with a lot of them.
Re:If you want to know what they're saying... (Score:4, Informative)
Of course the public face of RT looks professional and innocuous. RT was the organization that was paying internet influences $100K a week (yes, per week) to produce pro Russian propaganda on their YT channels.
Some sources for you in case your news stream doesn't cover news.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/r... [cbsnews.com]
https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/07... [cnn.com]
https://www.thedailybeast.com/... [thedailybeast.com]
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Fox News is decidedly unprofessional. They even clearly state that their are deliberately biased because of their believe that everyone else is. They've lost a massive lawsuit for deliberately lying about voting machine fraud, which has damped down many of the absurd liars, some of whom just left to increase the lying elsewhere (Carlson).
RT however is not more or less biased when it comes to Russian propaganda. RT is most decidely not on the side of Ukraine or a neutral observer, like most western state
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Yes, but RT isn't telling the truth, that's the point.
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I used to watch RT on cable long ago. It covered things that US media didn't like to talk about. If you always kept in mind that they were Russian, and therefore not all "facts" were necessarily facts, it was quite illuminating, especially the opinion shows.
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I bet I know... (Score:1)
I bet I know which social media site they'll get the red carpet treatment...
Wow it must be (Score:1)
Iâ(TM)m gonna guess that the fed quietly threatened to label Zuckerberg as a foreign agent if he kept playing kissy-kissy with Russian propaganda.
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https://www.cnn.com/2024/09/13... [cnn.com]
I’m gonna guess that the US is close to labeling RT as a wing of Putin’s mafia and effectively banning them, and they’re quietly informing important people that “if you’re making money off RT, we’ll
People actually buy this narrative? (Score:1)
And can't see they're being manipulated into tax dollars -> corrupt politicians and related corporations?
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Yes, a certain segment of the population does buy into this narrative. But then, they didn't know [cnn.com], so how could you blame them?
These outlets should be banned completly... (Score:4, Interesting)
All Russian state controlled media should be added to the sanctions list and US companies should be flat out banned from doing business with them period.
Don't want to "interfere" with official narrative (Score:1)
Censorship... (Score:2)
"To suppress free speech is a double wrong, it violates the rights of the hearer as well as the speaker."-F. Douglass
I don't want anyone else making decisions on what I can, and can't hear. The beauty of free speech is that it usually says more about the speaker than the subject of the speech. 'Consent of the Governed' demands a fully informed public.
Any government that is losing credibility due to foreign influence of the public under their authority has bigger issues than foreign governments meddlin'...
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