CEO Tim Cook speaks at an Apple event at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, September 10, 2019.
Stephen Lamm | Reuters
Silicon Valley’s biggest tech companies have made it difficult for people in Russia to access some of the world’s most used technologies like President Vladimir Putin He continues his invasion of Ukraine.
Many actions were taken in line with the sanctions imposed by the US government.
an Apple I got the ball rolling on Tuesday when I announced it Stop sales in Russia On iPhones, iPads, MacBooks, Macs, and all other products.
“They’re leading from the front,” Ben Wood, senior CCS Insight analyst, told CNBC, adding that It puts pressure on competitors to follow.
The Cupertino-based company said it has removed Russian state-backed media RT News and Sputnik News from its app store worldwide except for Russia.
google she has Remove all of the news outlets From the Play Store in Europe as well.
And it is, the Mountain View search giant told CNBC Friday Hang all ads in Russia.
The decision comes after Russia’s internet censorship agency, Roskomnadzor, accused YouTube, a division of Google, of running major advertising campaigns to mislead Russians about the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
“In light of exceptional circumstances, we are temporarily suspending Google ads in Russia,” a Google spokesperson said.
“The situation is rapidly evolving and we will continue to share updates when appropriate,” they added.
Meanwhile, home sharing platform AirbnbHe said Suspension of all operations In Russia and Belarus.
The company’s CEO and co-founder, Brian Chesky, announced the move on Twitter late Thursday, three days later. Airbnb He said It will provide free and temporary housing for up to 100,000 refugees who have fled Ukraine.
Further up the West Coast in Redmond, Washington, Microsoft Also withdraws from Russia.
Microsoft President Brad Smith said in Blog Friday that the company “will suspend all new sales of Microsoft products and services in Russia” and halt “many aspects of our business in Russia to comply with government sanction decisions.” Microsoft did not say how and if it plans to continue supporting existing customers in Russia.
The question now is how far the tech giants will go.
Earlier this week, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Mikhailo Fedorov called on Apple CEO Tim Cook to finish the job and block access to the App Store in Russia.
He also urged Xbox from Microsoft and Sony on PlayStation Stop supporting Russian markets and “Temporarily block all Russian and Belarusian accounts.”
dead She said she hopes to stay online in Russia so she can help counter the propaganda being shared on her platform.
“We believe that stopping our services will silence important expression at a critical time,” Nick Clegg said, Recently appointed corporate vice president for global affairswrote on Twitter on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Chinese tech companies have been remarkably quiet. companies including Huawei, xiaomi And the Ali Baba They declined to comment when contacted by CNBC about whether they would cut business in Russia.
TikTok, which is owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, is one of the only Chinese companies to take some action. TikTok said it will restrict access to RT and Sputnik in the European Union.
