Facebook blocks RT and Sputnik pages in the EU

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The parent company of Facebook has blocked Russian state media outlets across the European Union. Andy Stone, a spokesman for Meta, tells The Verge that the Sputnik andRT pages aren't visible in the EU because of the change.

We have received requests from a number of Governments and the EU to take further steps in relation to Russian state controlled media.

We have received requests from a number of Governments and the EU to take further steps in relation to Russian state controlled media. Given the exceptional nature of the current situation, we will be restricting access to RT and Sputnik across the EU at this time.

— Nick Clegg (@nickclegg) February 28, 2022

The change is the response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The company has limited access to several accounts in Ukraine, including those belonging to some Russian state media organizations.

Russian state media have been blocked from advertising on the platform and a Russian misinformation network has been removed. Russia has partially blocked access to Facebook, and it has arottling platform. Russia has blocked access to the internet.