Following Google’s lead: Microsoft axes Russia Today and bans state-owned media ads
Microsoft have stated in a blog post that it will be removing Russian state-owned media outlet RT’s mobile apps from the Windows App store, as well as cutting ads on Russian state-sponsored media.
In a post, the tech giant said: “One of our principal and global responsibilities as a company is to help defend governments and countries from cyberattacks. Seldom has this role been more important than during the past week in Ukraine, where the Ukrainian government and many other organizations and individuals are our customers.”
“We are continuing to monitor events closely and will make ongoing adjustments to strengthen our detection and disruption mechanisms to avoid the spread of disinformation and promote instead independent and trusted content.”
As such, Microsoft said it would not display any state-sponsored RT and Sputnik content, de-rank search results on Bing and not place any ads from its ad network on those sites.
The announcement also touched on the disinformation concerns that have been rife since the crisis first escalated. It said: “We are also focused as a company in protecting against state-sponsored disinformation campaigns, which have long been commonplace in times of war.”
“The past few days have seen kinetic warfare accompanied with a well-orchestrated battle ongoing in the information ecosystem where the ammunition is disinformation, undermining truth and sowing seeds of discord and distrust.”
It comes after Facebook-owner Meta and Alphabet’s Google placed restrictions on Russia’s state-controlled media outlets in Ukraine and around the world.