Facebook owner Meta said on Monday it was banning RT, Rossiya Segodnya and other Russian state media networks from its platforms, claiming the outlets had used deceptive tactics to carry out covert influence operations online, Reuters reports.

The ban, strongly criticized by the Kremlin, marks a sharp escalation in measures by the world's biggest social media company against Russian state media, after years of more limited steps such as blocking the outlets from running ads and reducing the reach of their posts.

"After careful consideration, we expanded our ongoing enforcement against Russian state media outlets. Rossiya Segodnya, RT and other related entities are now banned from our apps globally for foreign interference activity," the social media company said in a written statement.

A spokesperson for Alphabet's YouTube also said the company terminated over 230 channels affiliated with Rossiya Segodnya and AVO TV Novosti, which were already blocked from viewers.

In addition to Facebook, Meta's apps include Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads. Prior to the ban, RT had more than 7.2 million followers on Facebook and more than 1 million followers on Instagram.

Moscow branded Meta an "extremist" organization in 2022 and blocked Instagram and Facebook, objecting to changes in Meta's hate speech policy designed to allow users to vent their anger over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.