On Monday, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, banned the Russian state media outlets RT and others related.

RT has 7.2 million followers on Facebook and 1 million followers on Instagram.

A spokesperson for Meta stated, ‘After careful consideration, we have expanded our ongoing program on Russian state media. Rossiaya Segodnya, RT, and other related media groups are now banned from our apps globally.’

Last week, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced new sanctions against RT accusing it of being a “de facto arm of Russia’s intelligence apparatus”.

The top US diplomat told reporters on Friday that RT is part of a network of Russian-backed media outlets which have sought to covertly “undermine democracy in the United States”.

He added that the Russian government has “embedded within RT, a unit with cyber operational capabilities and ties to Russian intelligence”.

RT live-streamed Mr Blinken’s remarks on X and declared it the “US’s latest conspiracy theory”.