TikTok has removed accounts associated with Russian state media for conducting “undercover operations” ahead of the US presidential election.
The short video sharing company said on Monday the changes affected accounts associated with TV-Novosti – the parent company of Russian state media RT – and Rossiya Segodnya, which is behind the Kremlin news agencies RIA Novosti and Sputnik.
The US Department of Justice has said that Moscow remains a major threat to the election as hacking carried out by Iran this year has also targeted the presidential campaigns of both political parties. US officials in recent months have used criminal charges, sanctions, and public hearings to clarify actions taken by foreign adversaries to influence the election, including a case targeting Russia’s covert effort to distribute Russian content to US audiences.
TikTok’s announcement came a week after Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, said it had banned Rossiya Segodnya, RT, and other related organizations from its apps, drawing rebuke from the Kremlin and two media organizations.
TikTok said on its website that accounts associated with TV-Novosti and Rossiya Segodnya are already restricted in the United Kingdom and the European Union and are not allowed to appear on the app’s main “For You” feed.
“There are many people from different countries who promote another point of view about events happening in the world. And we will find ways to put it there,” Rossiya Segodnya media said in a statement following TikTok’s announcement.
RT did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Separately, TikTok is also making some changes to its business.
The company said in an untimely notice posted on its website that it is shutting down the music service TikTok Music on November 28. The service, launched just two years ago, was available in five countries, including prominent markets such as Brazil and Australia. . It was not available in the US
—By Halleluya Hadero, Associated Press business writer
Dasha Litvinova, an AP writer, contributed to this story.
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