Facebook restricts RT and Sputnik across entire EU

Facebook is “restricting access” to two Russian state media outlets across the entire European Union, a move that will prevent the publishers from sharing content to millions of people in the countries. Meta’s President of Global Affairs, Nick Clegg, announced the block of RT and Sputnik, saying that it was in response to “a number” of government requests from within the EU.

“Given the exceptional nature of the current situation, we will be restricting access to RT and Sputnik across the EU at this time,” Clegg said. The change comes after the European Commission enacted its on the outlets, and after Facebook had already blocked access to ads and other monetization features. The social network had also blocked the publications’ ability to post content inside of Ukraine. 

Clegg didn’t elaborate on whether “restricting access” referred simply to these accounts’ ability to post and share inside of these countries, or if the accounts would be completely inaccessible in the EU. We’ve asked Facebook for more details.

The move comes as Russian State media outlets, some of which have vast social media followings, find their reach increasingly limited. Facebook and other platforms have taken more aggressive measures to tamp down the influence of Russia-backed publications in recent days as there has been a sharp rise. Twitter announced Monday that it would from Russian state media accounts, and would try to curb their influence on the platform. YouTube has also blocked the outlets’ ability their channels.