RT Says Instagram Blocked All of Its Accounts in 27 European Countries

Moscow's "special operation" in Ukraine seeking to demilitarise and denazify the country prompted Western governments to unleash a campaign to censor Russian foreign-language media, shutting down websites, radio and television broadcasts, and blocking access to Sputnik and RT on YouTube, Facebook, and other social media platforms.

RT has said that Instagram has blocked all of its accounts in 27 European Countries.

On Tuesday, Google Europe stated that they were blocking YouTube channels "connected to RT and Sputnik across Europe, effective immediately."

According to a statement made on Twitter, the company's teams "continue to monitor the situation around the clock to take swift action."

Earlier, Meta, formerly known as Facebook, announced that access was restricted to the RT broadcaster and the Sputnik news agency across the European Union, according to the company’s Vice President of Global Affairs and Communications Nick Clegg.

Echoing the moves, Microsoft issued an official statement, saying “it's complying with an EU directive and will remove the RT news app from its Windows store, de-rank Sputnik and RT in Bing results, and remove RT and Sputnik content from MSN and Microsoft Start.”

Microsoft noted the move was “against state-sponsored disinformation campaigns, which have long been commonplace in times of war.”

This comes as Western governments have moved to heavily censor Russian foreign-language media in connection with the conflict in Ukraine, shutting down websites, radio and television broadcasts, and blocking or otherwise limiting access to Sputnik and RT on YouTube, Facebook, and other social media platforms.

President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen announced earlier that the European Union intended to ban state-owned Russian media outlets, including Sputnik, RT, and their subsidiaries, as part of new sanctions imposed on the country amid its military operation in Ukraine.

Moscow has issued assurances that its military operation in Ukraine is intended to demilitarise and denazify the country after a request for assistance from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics (DPR, LPR), which have faced weeks of intensified artillery and mortar attacks by Ukrainian forces.

Despite the Russian Defence Ministry saying that the operation is targeting the military infrastructure of Ukraine only and that the civilian population is not in danger, the US and its allies in Europe and Asia condemned what they said was an unprovoked "invasion" and slapped Moscow with new sanctions. They also vowed more lethal defensive assistance to Ukraine.

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