As Russia continues with its attacks on Ukraine, the West imposes and promises to impose more sanctions on Russia. Many tech companies based in the US and Europe have decided to cut ties with Russia. Stay with me as we look at the top technology companies that have made this retaliatory move.
From video gaming giants to social media firms, here are some of the big tech companies that are ceasing business with Russia;
Microsoft
Last week Microsoft announced it was halting the sale of its products and services in Russia after what they described as an “unjustified, unprovoked and unlawful invasion” of Ukraine. The industry leader also promised to protect Ukraine from Russian cyberattacks.
The company stopped advertising deals with Russia and promised not to display content from state-backed media outlets RT and Sputnik.
PayPal
The mobile payments firm said it will not accept new users from Russia – it will however accept withdrawals in Russia over a period of time.
EA and Activision Blizzard
The two gaming giants said they will no longer sell their games to Russian customers. Electronic Arts (EA) announced games, add-on content, and virtual currency bundles will not be available in both Russia and Belarus.
Apple
Apple has halted the sale of physical products in Russia and blocked access to Apple Pay. Also, the smartphone giant blocked RT News and Sputnik from the App Store outside Russia.
As a precautionary measure in Ukraine, Apple disabled traffic and live incident features in Apple Maps to prevent Russian forces from using these tools to target certain locations.
Google banned RT News and Sputnik from publishing on Google News, running ads on its platforms, and blocked their apps on Play Store. The state-backed media outlets were also banned from YouTube across Europe. Just like Apple, Google also disabled traffic and live incident features in Google Maps.
Meta
Meta has blocked Facebook pages owned by RT and Sputnik across the European Union. Russia retaliated by banning Facebook in the country citing discrimination of state media by Facebook.
Twitter suspended accounts belonging to the two state-backed media across the EU member states.
TikTok
Like most social media giants, TikTok suspended accounts belonging to RT News and Sputnik. Moreover, the Chinese-owned video-sharing app blocked video uploads and live streams in Russia.
Snapchat
The Snap-owned company halted all advertising services in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus and it will no longer receive revenue from Russia-owned businesses. Snapchat promised to donate $15 million humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
Booking and Airbnb
Booking announced it will stop its online travel services in Russia while the home rental firm, Airbnb terminated operations in the country. Airbnb is waiving all guest bookings in Ukraine as a way to help Ukrainians through the crisis.
Netflix
The firm has terminated its streaming services in Russia. Netflix further announced it has paused future Russian projects and acquisitions.
Spotify
In response to Russia’s “unprovoked” attack on Ukraine, as described by the music streaming service, Spotify shut its Russian office and removed content belonging to RT and Sputnik.
Nokia
Nokia supplies MTS, Vimpelcom, Megafon, and Tele2 in Russia. The company announced it will no longer supply this equipment to Russia. The Finnish network equipment manufacturer added that it is closely monitoring manufacturing operations in Ukraine and has a contingency plan in place.
Ericsson
The Swedish tech giant said it has stopped delivering products to the Russian market and it will continue to monitor the situation in Ukraine for further measures.
Oracle
Following a request from Ukrainian vice prime minister Mykhailo Fedorov, Oracle responded through a tweet, “On behalf of Oracle’s 150,000 employees around the world and in support of both the elected government of Ukraine and for the people of Ukraine, Oracle Corporation has already suspended all operations in the Russian Federation”
SAP
SAP, Oracle’s competitor, announced it will stop all product and service sales in Russia. “Like the rest of the world, we are watching the war in Ukraine with horror and condemn the invasion in the strongest possible terms,” the company said.
The West believes the best way to push Russia to stop the invasion is to cripple its economy. This is why most European and American companies have pulled out of the nation in line with measures stipulated by the EU, the US, and the UK. Hitherto, the Russian economy has been severely ravaged by these sanctions. Only time can tell whether these sanctions will force Russia to abandon its “special military operation” in Russia.
Mass walkout of major tech giants from Russia is a huge blow to the country. Even after the attacks are over, it will take years if not decades for the nation to recover after the isolation from the global economy brought about by these sanctions.
Despite being Russia’s ally for years, China may not be of much help since Xi Jinping seeks to strengthen China’s sour trade relations with the West. Attacks on Ukraine put China in a difficult position since Russia is a crucial ally.