TikTok has taken action against Russian state-owned media outlets RT and Sputnik, removing their accounts for violating the platform’s rules on covert influence operations.
According to TikTok’s official announcement, the accounts associated with Rossiya Segodnya and TV-Novosti, the parent organizations of RT and Sputnik, were suspended for attempting to secretly influence users in violation of TikTok’s Community Guidelines. As a result, content from these Russian media organizations is no longer accessible on the platform.
Previously, TikTok had restricted these accounts within the European Union and the United Kingdom, but the latest move represents a global crackdown.
In addition to the outright removal, TikTok noted that, under its state-affiliated media policy, content from these outlets had already been made ineligible for the platform’s “For You” feed, a move aimed at limiting their ability to influence international audiences on global affairs.
The removed accounts, TikTok said, will be documented in its upcoming September Covert Influence Operations report.
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In its statement, TikTok explained, “We are removing accounts associated with Rossiya Segodnya and TV-Novosti for engaging in covert influence operations on TikTok, which violates our Community Guidelines. These accounts had already been restricted in the EU and UK, and globally, their content was not eligible for our ‘For You’ feed, with accounts labeled as state-controlled media to provide transparency on the source.”
This is not the first instance where Russian state-controlled media has faced bans on social media platforms. Just a few days earlier, on September 16, Meta (the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp) announced a similar move to ban RT from its platforms.
This decision came shortly after the Biden administration accused RT of operating as a tool of Moscow’s intelligence agencies.
Meta’s spokesperson stated, “After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets. Rossiya Segodnya, RT, and other related entities are now banned from our apps globally due to foreign interference activities.”
The latest actions by TikTok and Meta represent part of a broader effort by social media companies to clamp down on state-affiliated media and misinformation, particularly in the context of ongoing geopolitical tensions involving Russia. These measures aim to prevent covert influence operations and maintain the integrity of online spaces.