SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Facebook Inc will start labeling Russian, Chinese and other state-controlled media organizations, and later this summer block any ads from such outlets that target U.S. users, it said on Thursday.
Russia’s Sputnik, Iran’s Press TV and China’s Xinhua News are on the list of organizations that will receive the label from world’s biggest social network.
U.S. news outlets will not be labeled, as the company has determined that even U.S. government-run organizations have editorial independence, said Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook’s head of cybersecurity policy, in an interview.
Facebook, which has acknowledged its failure to stop Russian use of its platforms to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, announced broad plans last year to create a state media label.
(Reporting by Katie Paul)
