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Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram owner Meta has announced a ban on Russian state media, following outlets such as RT's alleged involvement in foreign interference operations.

“After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets,” a Meta spokesperson said on Monday evening. 

“Rossiya Segodnya, RT and other related entities are now banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity.”

The ban will encompass Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, and comes on the back of United States' sanctions against RT and other Russian media.

“Our most powerful antidote to Russia’s lies is the truth,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday. “It’s shining a bright light on what the Kremlin is trying to do under the cover of darkness.”

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

RT, who streamed Blinken's comments on X, dismissed it as “the US's latest conspiracy theory."

In early September, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) charged two RT employees for their alleged involvement in a scheme to fund right-wing media in the US.

The impact of the ban for Russian media outlets is expected to be significant, with RT having 7.2 million Facebook followers.