Well, it’s a little more than a week later, and even more businesses have decided to pull out of Russia in an effort to persuade the country to end the conflict with Ukraine. Here’s how even more tech companies are responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. That’s not all though. Earlier this month, Apple suspended its digital services like Apple Pay in Russia, blocked state-run media like Sputnik and RT News from the App Store, and blocked Apple Maps from displaying traffic and live incidents to help protect Ukrainian citizens. Most recently, Apple decided to suspend Search Ads on the Russian App Store this week, which will be disabled “until further notice.”
— TikTokComms (@TikTokComms) March 6, 2022 According to TikTok, the reasoning behind the move is due to Russia’s new laws on the removal of “fake news,” which has proven to be nothing more than another propaganda tactic from the country. Like other social media networks in line with the Russia ban, TikTok has also barred RT News and Sputnik from the mobile app. While the initial response from financial powerhouse PayPal was a bit lackadaisical, still allowing cross-border transactions by users in Russia. Now though, the company has decided to fully cut off Russia from the service, halting operation of the financial service for the foreseeable future. The idea went viral, spurring thousands of users to essentially donate funds through the home rental platform, raising nearly $2 million for Ukrainian citizens in need.
Such a cool idea from our community. Thank you https://t.co/MEitgKB5Eo — Brian Chesky 🇺🇦 (@bchesky) March 4, 2022 Subsequently, Airbnb has waived all guest and host booking fees to encourage more users to get in on the charitable giving. Of course, Airbnb is following suit with the rest of the tech and has shut off service in Russia, while supporting Ukrainian users through this unique movement. Now though, the Seattle-based tech giant has committed even further by suspending the sale of all products and services in Russia “to condemn this unjustified, unprovoked and unlawful invasion.” That’s not all. Microsoft has also announced that it will not display any content from Russian state media firms and will actively de-rank search results on Bing. Snap is going the extra mile, though, pledging $15 million to help out. The goal for the money is to “support organizations providing direct relief to the people of Ukraine.” However, Coinbase — arguably the most well-known cryptocurrency exchange on the market — is making an effort to comply with any and all sanctions, by halting illicit activity through the blocking of over 25,000 addresses on the exchange. While cryptocurrency is still shrouded in controversy, it’s good to see that even something like the Russian invasion of Ukraine can get everyone on the same side.
