European Union: Sanctioned Russian media entities and individuals’ content accessible on Facebook and other Meta services
Report co-author: Saman Nazari, Alliance4Europe
This report is the fourth in a series looking at major online platforms’ enforcement of EU sanctions on Russian media entities (see previous reports on YouTube, TikTok, and X/Twitter).
The EU sanctions regime
In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began in 2014 and reached full-scale in 2022, the EU enacted sanctions against a number of individuals and organizations offering support to the Russian war effort.
In addition to political and military decision-makers or military-industrial organizations, several Kremlin-controlled media entities and prominent propagandists are included in this sanctions list. Consequently, broadcasting content from these entities is forbidden in the EU.
On May 14, 2024, the European Commission further clarified that the sanctions prohibit hosting content from these persons or entities or making them available to EU audiences on content-sharing platforms or search engines.
As of July 31 2024, the following media entities are under sanction:
| Russia Today and its subsidiaries | Sputnik and its subsidiaries |
| Katehon | Rossiya 24 / Russia 24 |
| New Eastern Outlook | Rossiya 1 |
| NTV/NTV Mir | Rossiyskaya Gazeta |
| Oriental Review | Spas TV Channel |
| Pervyi Kanal | Rossiya RTR / RTR Planeta |
| REN TV | Tsargrad TV Channel |
| RIA Novosti | TV Centre International |
| Izvestia | Voice of Europe |
Some sanctioned entities and their content are still benefiting from Meta products and services
Despite these legal provisions, as of late July 2024, several Meta services—including Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp— still make content produced by sanctioned Russian state-controlled media and sanctioned media personalities accessible to European audiences.
On Facebook, a widespread presence of sanctioned content and accounts was recorded, in spite of the platform’s enforcement of partly successful efforts to restrict this content for EU audiences.
On other Meta services, such as Instagram, WhatsApp, and Threads, some sanctioned actors and their content are easily accessible, although the issue appears less pervasive than on Facebook.
On Facebook, some official accounts of sanctioned media and individuals are accessible to EU audiences. In addition, other accounts that have repeatedly or exclusively posted content from sanctioned entities also remain accessible. These accounts include:
- Eight sanctioned media entities’ official accounts, most of which are labeled by Facebook as controlled by the Russian government,
- 10 personal accounts of personalities specifically sanctioned by the EU (see Annex I of Council Regulation No 269/2014), including several with a large following,
- Three official accounts of shows from sanctioned media, with some hosting entire show episodes on the platform,
- Four accounts belonging to journalists or hosts of shows broadcast on sanctioned media entities, frequently posting content from sanctioned entities,
- 13 amplifier accounts with all the hallmarks of sanctioned media (name, logo, only posting content produced by the entity),
- 14 amplifier accounts that repeatedly post content produced by sanctioned entities but which do not appear to be directly affiliated with them.
Furthermore, we discovered that links to mirror websites of sanctioned media appeared in Facebook posts approximately 10,000 times across four European languages since EU sanctions were enacted in March 2022. Ten pages or groups have each shared these mirror URLs more than 95 times since the sanctions were imposed in March 2022.
SANCTIONED MEDIA ACCOUNTS ACCESSIBLE TO EU AUDIENCES
Official accounts of sanctioned media entities are accessible to EU audiences on Facebook. Most are verified by Facebook as being controlled by the Russian government. These accounts have medium reach, except for Russia Beyond ES, which has 685,000 followers.
| NAME | LINK | STATUS | VERIFIED BY FACEBOOK AS CONTROLLED BY RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT |
| Russia Beyond ES | https://www.facebook.com/rusiahoy/ | Active, Spanish | Yes |
| افلام وثائقية – RT Arabic | https://www.facebook.com/RTDocFilms | Active, Arabic | Yes |
| RT Arabic روسيا اليوم – مصر | https://facebook.com/Egyptrt1/ | Active, Arabic | Yes |
| روسيا اليوم – الجزائر RT Arabic | https://www.facebook.com/RTArabic.algeria | Active, Arabic | No |
| RT Play en français | https://www.facebook.com/frRTplay | Inactive, French | No |
| Radio Sputnik Armenia | https://www.facebook.com/RadioSputnikArmenia | Active, Armenian | Yes |
| Российская газета в Кыргызстане: Только Хорошие Новости. | https://www.facebook.com/RossiyskayaGazetaKG | Active, Russian | Yes |
| aRTel.doc | https://www.facebook.com/aRTeldoc | Active, Russian | Yes |
PERSONAL ACCOUNTS OF SANCTIONED INDIVIDUALS
Ten personal accounts of media personalities specifically sanctioned by the EU in Annex I of Council Regulation No 269/2014, including some with large followings, were identified on Facebook. Eight accounts have over 10,000 followers each, with some attracting very large audiences. Notable figures include Anton Krasovsky with 150,000 followers, Margarita Simonyan with 70,000, Igor Korotchenko with 50,000, and Arcady Mamontov also with 50,000.
| NAME | LINK | STATUS |
| Arcady Mamontov | https://www.facebook.com/studiamamontova/ | Active, Russian. Listed under number 689 of the EU sanctions list. |
| Виталий Третьяков (Vitaliy Tretyakov) | https://www.facebook.com/vitaly.tretyakov | Last active in 2022, Russian. Listed under number 1499 of the EU sanctions list. |
| Margarita Simonyan (Маргарита Симоньян) | https://www.facebook.com/margarita.simonyan.5 | Active, Russian, Listed under number 228 of the EU sanctions list. |
| Alexander Dugin | https://www.facebook.com/Agdchan | Active, English, Listed under number 1261 of the EU sanctions list. |
| Скабеева (Olga Skabeyeva) | https://www.facebook.com/OlgaSkabeyeva | Active, Russian, Listed under number 683 of the EU sanctions list. |
| Роман Бабаян – Тележурналист (Roman Babayan) | https://www.facebook.com/babayan.official | Active, Russian, Listed under number 686 of the EU sanctions list. |
| Anton Krasovsky | https://facebook.com/krasovkin | Active, Russian, Listed under number 688 of the EU sanctions list. |
| Olga Belova | https://www.facebook.com/olga.belova.75 | Active, Russian, Listed under number 1534 of the EU sanctions list. |
| Igor Korotchenko | https://www.facebook.com/igor.korotchenko.37 | Active, Russian, Listed under number 898 of the EU sanctions list. |
| Марина Ахмедова (Marina Akhmedova) | https://www.facebook.com/ahmedova.marina | Active, Russian, Listed under number 1483 of the EU sanctions list. |
OFFICIAL ACCOUNTS OF SANCTIONED MEDIAS’ SHOWS
Three accounts, each showing signs of being the official account of shows broadcast by sanctioned media entities —such as reusing the show’s names and logos and exclusively posting content produced by the entity—were identified on the platform. These accounts have low to medium reach. Some of these accounts are also verified by Facebook as being controlled by the Russian government.
| NAME | LINK | STATUS | VERIFIED BY FACEBOOK AS CONTROLLED BY RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT |
| Cartas sobre la Mesa | https://www.facebook.com/CartasMesaTV | Last active in September 2023, Spanish | No |
| Political Misfits on Radio Sputnik | https://www.facebook.com/PoliticalMisfitsRadio | Active, English | Yes |
| CrossTalk | https://facebook.com/crosstalkrules | Active, English | Yes |
OFFICIAL ACCOUNTS OF JOURNALISTS OR HOSTS AFFILIATED WITH THE SANCTIONED ENTITIES
Four accounts, either belonging to or affiliated with journalists or hosts of shows broadcast by sanctioned media entities and frequently posting content from these entities, were identified on Facebook.
| NAME | LINK | STATUS |
| Jamarl Lamont Thomas | https://www.facebook.com/jamarlt | Active, English. Host of Sputnik show “Fault Lines”, frequently reposts the show’s content. |
| Afshin Rattansi | https://www.facebook.com/afshinrattansi | Active, English. Host of RT show “Going Underground”, frequently reposts the show’s content. |
| Maya Manna RT Arabic | https://www.facebook.com/mayamannaofficial | Active, Arabic, Head of RT Arabic News Channel, frequently reposts the channel’s content. |
| Erick Fonseca | https://www.facebook.com/mexicanoenrusia | Active, Spanish. Host of RT show “La lista de Erick”, frequently reposts the show’s content. |
AMPLIFIER ACCOUNTS WITH HALLMARKS OF SANCTIONED MEDIA
Eleven pages on the platform were identified as misleadingly presenting themselves as official pages of sanctioned media. Although these accounts reuse the names and/or logos of the sanctioned media, exclusively post content produced by these entities, or redirect audiences to official or mirror websites of the sanctioned media, they appear to be unofficial due to inconsistent content and posting patterns compared to official accounts, discrepancies in registration details, and low engagement quality.
These accounts have low to medium reach.
| NAME | LINK | STATUS |
| Actualidad RT | https://www.facebook.com/noticiasactualidadrt/ | Active, Spanish |
| RT MAS | https://www.facebook.com/masrtactualidad | Active, Spanish |
| RT Actualidad en Español | https://www.facebook.com/rtactualidadmas | Active, Spanish |
| Rossiya-24 Español | https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61555200136778 | Active, Spanish |
| RT News Agency | https://www.facebook.com/RTNewsAgency/ | Active, English |
| Sputnik UK | https://www.facebook.com/SputnikUK | Inactive, English |
| Sputnik Indonesia | https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100067228324705 | Inactive, English |
| RT Africa | https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093689078244 | Last active January 2024, French |
| Sputnik Mali | https://www.facebook.com/sputnikmali | Last active June 2023, French |
| Rt France | https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rt%20France/217623318861542/ | Inactive, French |
| Russia Today – Czech Republic | https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556575465057 | Last active February 2024, Czech |
In addition to these likely unofficial pages, two groups (spaces where members, not just administrators, can post) on the platform were identified as reusing the sanctioned media’s names and/or logos and frequently (but not necessarily exclusively) posting content produced by these entities. These groups have a strong reach: RT en Español / Matrix Noticias Mx / Sputnik Mundo / Sepa Mas Mx has close to 60,000 members, and RT (Noticias Internacionales en Español) has 20,000 members.
| NAME | LINK | STATUS |
| RT en Español / Matrix Noticias Mx / Sputnik Mundo / Sepa Mas Mx | https://www.facebook.com/groups/3697746073632448/ | Active, Spanish |
| RT (Noticias internacionales en Español) | https://www.facebook.com/groups/RT.Noticias | Active, Spanish |
EXAMPLES OF AMPLIFIERS
14 accounts, which frequently (but not necessarily exclusively) post content produced by sanctioned entities but do not appear to be directly affiliated with them, were identified on Facebook. Most of these accounts have low or medium reach, although some have more than a hundred thousand followers. At least one account, Afrique Media Short, publishes RT shows while concealing the logo and other identifiers of the content’s origin.
| NAME | LINK | STATUS | POST EXAMPLES |
| ICONO Periodismo | https://www.facebook.com/ICONOPeriodismo | Active, Spanish | 1, 2 |
| Radio Entérate Ahora Inc. – Humacao, Puerto Rico | https://www.facebook.com/radioenterateahora | Active, Spanish | 1, 2 |
| Nunca Más de Rodillas | https://www.facebook.com/nuncamasderodillas | Last active November 2023, Spanish | 1, 2 |
| Forbidden News | https://www.facebook.com/fforbiddennews | Active, English | 1, 2 |
| Afrique Media Short | https://www.facebook.com/AfriqueMediaShort | Active, French | 1, 2 |
| Le Gabon Aujourd’hui | https://www.facebook.com/LGAH6 | Active, French | 1, 2 |
| Je suis pour un monde multipolaire | https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086579193997 | Active, French | 1, 2 |
| Soutien RTFrance | https://www.facebook.com/SoutienRtFrance | Last active 18 September 2022, French | 1, 2 |
| 種 Datenarche.de (Millennium Arts Nachrichten) | https://www.facebook.com/datenarche | Active, German, shares links to videos from RT that are uploaded on the page’s site. | 1, 2 |
| Unzensiert | https://www.facebook.com/unzensiertnews | Active, German | 1, 2 |
| Armádny magazín | https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063640046720 | Active, Slovak. Page, shares links to articles copy-pasted from RT that are translated and posted on the channel’s official website. | 1, 2 |
| InfoVojna | https://www.facebook.com/Infovojna | Active, Slovak. Page, shares links to articles copy-pasted from RT that are translated and posted on the channel’s official website. | 1, 2 |
| TV OTV | https://www.facebook.com/TVOTVSK | Active, Slovak. Page, shares links to articles copy-pasted from RT that are translated and posted on the channel’s official website. | 1, 2 |
The relative ease with which we found amplifier accounts (a simple search of the names of TV shows and Kremlin-aligned media personalities) suggests that this list is not exhaustive.
SANCTIONED MEDIA MIRROR LINKS POSTED ON GROUPS AND PAGES
Links to mirror websites of sanctioned media, which replicate the content of the original sites to circumvent restrictions, appeared in Facebook posts approximately 10,000 times across four European languages since the sanctions were enacted.
Specifically, we searched for links belonging to a number of known mirror websites for RT and Sputnik. However, mirror websites are constantly being taken down and recreated. In consequence, these results are a lower bound for the phenomenon and cannot be considered exhaustive.
The table below presents the top 15 accounts or groups where such links were posted, highlighting the most frequent disseminators of this content.
| NAME | NUMBER OF MIRROR LINKS POSTED | LINK | STATUS |
| Aletheia | 1079 | https://www.facebook.com/aletheia.net | Active, English, Page |
| 🦅O M S L 🦅ORGANISATION MONDIALE SÉCURITÉS LIBERTÉS 🦅 | 247 | https://www.facebook.com/groups/201856120781236 | Active, French, Group |
| The Karlov Group – Support Russia’s Diplomatic Rights | 215 | https://www.facebook.com/groups/1835868563323019 | Active, English, Group |
| LE PAYS BLEU | 162 | https://www.facebook.com/groups/172350823173495 | Active, French, Group |
| La Meute des Loups contre les Chacals/The Pack of Wolves against the Jackal | 162 | https://www.facebook.com/groups/199567286765845 | Active, French, Group |
| La Meute des Loups Diffusion / The Pack of Wolves Broadcast | 145 | https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064489460182 | Active, French, Page |
| Daily Canadian news and the world. | 134 | https://www.facebook.com/groups/914050332696240 | Active, English, Group |
| The Raza Unida Party | 122 | https://www.facebook.com/TheRazaUnidaParty | Active, English, Page |
| La Grande Russie de Poutine | 95 | https://www.facebook.com/ChapmanJacques | Active, French, Page |
| Anti-NATO Coalition | 92 | https://www.facebook.com/groups/10632237063 | Active, English, Group |
| Gegen Defender 22 | 85 | https://www.facebook.com/groups/2425808030974277 | Active, German, Group |
| 전국농민회총연맹 | 81 | https://www.facebook.com/groups/192199934135692 | Active, Korean, Group |
| STOP WASHINGTON! | 79 | https://www.facebook.com/groups/1021819861251020 | Active, English, Group |
| Anti-Imperialism | 77 | https://www.facebook.com/groups/5597789101 | Active, English, Group |
| SOLIDARITÄT | 66 | https://www.facebook.com/groups/733923570031010 | Active, German, Group |
At least another 308 pages or groups posted at least five such links since sanctions were enacted in March 2022.
On Instagram, accounts of sanctioned media and individuals are also accessible to EU audiences, with some repeatedly or exclusively posting content from sanctioned entities. These accounts include:
- one sanctioned media account, despite being verified by Facebook as being controlled by the Russian government,
- one account of a show from sanctioned media,
- one amplifier account with all the hallmarks of sanctioned media (name, logo, only posting content produced by the entity),
- one account belonging to a journalist or host of shows broadcast on sanctioned media entities, frequently posting content from sanctioned entities,
- one personal account of a personality specifically sanctioned by the EU (see Annex I of Council Regulation No 269/2014), including one posting content from sanctioned media.
It is important to note that the search on Instagram was not as exhaustive as it was on Facebook. This is due to technical limitations, such as the image-based nature of the platform, which makes searches more difficult, and because there appeared to be less sanctioned content present.
| NAME | CATEGORY | LINK | STATUS |
| РИА Новости Спорт | Official account of sanctioned media | https://www.instagram.com/rsport_ria/ | Active, Russian |
| ¡Ahi les va! | Official account of a show from sanctioned media | https://www.instagram.com/ahilesva_info/ | Active, Spanish |
| Germany_Today | Amplifier account with hallmarks of sanctioned media | https://www.instagram.com/germany_today_news/ | Active, German |
| Afshin Rattansi | Official account of journalist or host of shows broadcast on sanctioned media | https://www.instagram.com/afshinrattansi/ | Active, Englsih |
| Аркадий Мамонтов | Official account of sanctioned individual | https://www.instagram.com/arcadymamontov | Last active February 2022, Russian |
Threads
On Threads, accounts of sanctioned media and individuals are accessible to EU audiences, with some repeatedly or exclusively posting content from sanctioned entities. These accounts include:
- one sanctioned media account, despite being verified by Facebook as being controlled by the Russian government,
- one account of a show from sanctioned media,
- one account belonging to a journalist or host of shows broadcast on sanctioned media, frequently posting content from sanctioned entities,
As for Instagram, it is important to note that the search on Threads was not as exhaustive as it was on Facebook. This is due to technical limitations, such as the lack of content discovery and social monitoring platforms available to researchers, and because there appeared to be less sanctioned content present.
| NAME | CATEGORY | LINK | STATUS |
| РИА Новости Спорт | Official account of sanctioned media | https://www.threads.net/@rsport_ria | Active, Russian |
| ¡Ahi les va! | Official account of a show from sanctioned media | https://www.threads.net/@ahilesva_info | Active, Spanish |
| Afshin Rattansi | Official account of journalist or host of shows broadcast on sanctioned media | https://www.threads.net/@afshinrattansi | Active, English |
On WhatsApp, the channel feature (a one-way broadcasting feature separate from private messaging), has been utilized by sanctioned media and is accessible to EU audiences.
Despite not being accessible via the search function, these WhatsApp channels of sanctioned media can be joined via direct links, which are shared by sanctioned media official accounts on other social media platforms.
| NAME | LINK | STATUS |
| Sputnik Arabic | سبوتنيك عربي | https://www.whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va6KR607j6g8IwGbus2s | Active, Arabic |
| RT Brasil | https://www.whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaTLTGNGk1FqReJwX22k | Active, Portuguese |
Recommendations
It appears that Meta services have enacted partially successful measures aimed at ensuring the effective application of EU sanctions on Kremlin-controlled media. However, some content and actors which fall afoul of EU sanctions have still not been consistently geo-blocked, and remain freely available to EU-based audiences.
We therefore recommend that Facebook and other Meta services fully implement sanction-related EU regulations by:
- taking action on the content and accounts listed in this report,
- proactively looking for content and actors similar to those listed in this report,
- reviewing all names on the EU sanctions list to ensure they do not have an EU-accessible presence on the platform.
- ensuring that the accounts identified are not benefitting from revenue-sharing mechanisms which could run afoul of EU sanctions and Meta commitments to defund disinformation under the Code of Practice.
We also recommend that civil society actors alert both platforms and authorities when they identify sanctioned accounts or content within the EU.
