Facebook-owner Meta says it is globally demoting posts from Russian state media

By Elizabeth Culliford

(Reuters) – Meta Platforms is globally demoting content from Russian state-controlled media outlets’ Facebook pages and Instagram accounts, as well as posts containing links to those outlets on Facebook, the company’s head of global affairs Nick Clegg said on Tuesday.

Clegg also said the company had seen a “definitely discernable” degradation of its services in Russia since the country’s authorities announced they would restrict Meta’s platforms in the country. Speaking in a call with reporters, he said there had been an effect particularly on video and other multimedia content.

Meta said on Monday, amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, that it would restrict access to Russian state media outlets RT and Sputnik on its platforms across the European Union.

Clegg said the company had also received requests from other governments outside of the European Union to geoblock Russian state media. He said he was not aware of a request from the United States government to block Russian state media on Meta’s platforms.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Culliford; Additional reporting by Sheila Dang; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)