Seven weeks before the US presidential elections, Meta, the company behind Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is taking a clear stand against Russian disinformation campaigns. The TV channel RT (formerly Russia Today) and its affiliated organizations have been removed worldwide from the company's apps. This has already been the case in the EU since spring 2022, where RT has been banned due to its propaganda activities related to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.

Meta's decision came just days after the US government accused RT of interfering in the US presidential elections. Secretary of State Antony Blinken emphasized that the Russian state broadcaster was involved in covert influence operations and worked closely with the Russian military. Numerous RT representatives were sanctioned in the US.

Meta had already taken action against Russian state media after the start of the Ukraine war, including slowing the spread of their content. The company continues to classify Russia as the largest source of covert influence operations globally.

In contrast, RT remains active on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter, outside the EU. After the acquisition of X by Elon Musk, the labels that identified state media were removed.

In addition to measures against RT, Meta also announced a long-term collaboration with eyewear manufacturer EssilorLuxottica. The two companies are expanding their partnership, which began in 2019 with the development of Ray-Ban smart glasses. In the future, the smart glasses will be equipped with Meta's artificial intelligence and offer functions such as image capture, information retrieval, and recommendations.