ISTANBUL

TikTok has banned accounts associated with Russian media groups for engaging in "covert influence operations" ahead of the US presidential elections.

Accounts managed by the media group Rossiya Segodnya, and its affiliates RIA Novosti and Sputnik news services, as well as TV-Novosti, the parent organization of the RT news channel, have been suspended.

"Removing accounts associated with Rossiya Segodnya and TV-Novosti for engaging in covert influence operations on TikTok which violates our Community Guidelines," TikTok said in a statement on Monday.

It added that the accounts had previously faced restrictions in the UK and EU, and their global content was marked as state-controlled media.

"Globally, under our state-affiliated media policy, their content was also ineligible for the For You feed to limit attempts to influence foreign audiences on topics of global events and affairs, and their accounts were labeled as state-controlled media to provide important context about the source of the content," it said.

It is implementing measures during the US presidential election cycle to protect its over 170 million US users from "evolving threats," it added.