Meta has banned the sharing of content from Russian state media, possibly related to the upcoming US election. Meta already reduced the reach of those media outlets shortly after the start of Russia's aggression against Ukraine and blocked access from the EU and the UK after a corresponding request
Meta Company has banned content sharing with Russian state media, which probably has something to do with the upcoming US election.
For users in Europe, everything remains the same when scrolling through content on Instagram, Facebook or Threads. But something has changed in other parts of the world since Tuesday (September 17).
between mimes, pictures of cute cats and vacation photos of friends, media posts still pop up, but no longer posts from Russian state media, including RT and Sputnik, writes DW.
Even "ordinary" users can no longer share links leading to the content of these media.
Because the umbrella company Meta, which in addition to the already mentioned platforms also owns WhatsApp, has now decided to eliminate from its networks media that it considers propaganda.
The company already reduced the reach of those media shortly after the start of Russian aggression against Ukraine and blocked access from the EU and the UK after a proper request.
"After careful consideration, we have expanded our ongoing measures against Russian state media," the company said, citing "interference" in the affairs of other countries.
In Facebook's publicly visible community standards, "foreign influence" is expressly prohibited.
When asked by DW, Meta did not want to clarify the reasons and answer whether the timing was chosen because of the American elections in November.
Russian propaganda to influence elections
Andre Wolff of the Austrian online education association Mimikama has a clear opinion on why the American company has taken action now:
"We have a few weeks until the US elections, that's the key point. And that's why the step was taken now, so that Russia wouldn't interfere," Wolff told DW.
Over the weekend, the US government already tightened sanctions against the Russian propaganda network around the broadcaster RT. This move was explained by indications that RT, together with the Russian secret services, wanted to manipulate the presidential elections scheduled for October in Moldova in the interests of the Kremlin.
The White House previously warned of Russian interference in the US presidential election in November.
These days, the Washington Senate is questioning high-ranking representatives of major American corporations - including Meta's chief spokesman, Nick Clegg.
From the perspective of Felix Karta, who researches platform regulation as a Mercator Foundation associate, Meta knew about the Senate hearing when it decided to block Russian media.
"It can be assumed that the action against RT was strategically launched so that Nick Clegg does not go before the senators empty-handed." That he can indicate concrete measures against Russian disinformation," Karte told DW.
Meta as "good among the bad"?
Big tech companies don't exactly have the best reputation in the world, but from Andre Wolff's point of view, Meta presents itself as "the good of the bad."
Telegram founder Pavel Durov was arrested in Paris at the end of August because he was criticized for his lack of cooperation in the fight against illegal content.
In Brazil, a court blocked Platform X after its owner Elon Musk failed to take action against right-wing fake news.
Meta, whose oldest brand has been Facebook online for two decades, has had the longest learning curve of all, says Andre Wolff. "Because they were the first and the biggest, everyone always pointed the finger at them," says a spokesperson for Mimikama.
"They were always there when something needed to be developed, whether it was a policy against hate speech or against fake news." Meta was the first to flag fake news," he adds.
But we should not forget, warns Wolf, that Meta still makes money by spreading content that leaves people with strong emotions or polarizes. So, namely, people spend more time on the platform, and that means billions from advertisers.
Felix Karte, who has already worked for the EU, NATO and the global non-profit organization Reset.Tech, does not believe that it is necessary for Meta to polish its image now.
He recalls that in 2021, former Facebook manager Frances Hogen published internal documents that, for example, dealt with the negative effects on the mental health of teenage Instagram users.
"I really believe that external perception is not a priority for Metta right now," Carte says. "I think it's more about mitigating possible moves by the legislature or the government and creating a little goodwill."
Just the tip of the iceberg
In addition, it is difficult for Matti to effectively ban Kremlin propaganda on its channels. The Russian propaganda apparatus is ready for such attacks, says Karte.
"For years, it has been noticed that Russia relies less and less only on central propaganda media such as RT, and has already developed a decentralized propaganda strategy," he says.
"For example, it funds influencers, supposedly normal citizens who have YouTube channels or Telegram accounts to spread Russian propaganda among the population under the guise of citizen journalism," Carte adds.
Another tool is the so-called fake pages - faithful copies of renowned media portals through which propaganda content is spread.
That's why Andre Wolf thinks that RT represents the most harmless part of Russian propaganda because the Russian influence here is known.
"But when I read a Facebook page called, for example, Health Now, and pro-Russian content is constantly shared between great health tips, I don't immediately recognize the propaganda background - I find it much more perfidious," says Wolff.
A ban against it doesn't help, he says. "The only thing that helps is educating people about how propaganda and disinformation work."
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