Social media rivals Meta and YouTube have announced similar suspensions of Russian state media accounts this month.
TikTok said Monday it had removed accounts belonging to the Russian state media outlets RT and Sputnik for engaging in what it called “covert influence operations.”
The social video app said in a statement on its website that it removed accounts associated with TV-Novosti and Rossiya Segodnya, the parent organizations of the RT television network and the Russian news agency Sputnik. TikTok said the accounts had violated its community guidelines, in particular its ban on deceptive behavior.
The associated accounts are now permanently banned, a TikTok spokesperson said in an email.
TikTok is fighting a possible US ban in January 2025 and was in court last week to argue the questions that you’re raising: https://www.npr.org/2024/09/16/g-s1-23194/tiktok-us-ban-appeals-court
Thanks for the article, I’ll check it out soon. This has the appearance of just trying to comply with western standards then, in preparation for the lawsuit.