If there is an industry that has a major influence on our daily lives, then it is undoubtedly the tech industry. Only and only when everything that requires technology will vanish for even a minute, then we will realize its importance.
The tech industry also played a big role when the tension between Russia and Ukraine grew and Mykhailo Fedorov, the Deputy Minister of Ukraine started persuading tech companies to react to Russia’s invasion. Since the war began, many tech companies decided to suspend their services, stop operations, or basically react in a way that displayed they are not pro-war. While this may have impacted negatively according to some big-tech companies’ quarterly reports, nobody is budging from their decision.
Here is a timeline of how the tech companies reacted or the major developments that took place in the tech industry to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis since the beginning of the invasion:
February 25: Accounts that were sharing crucial updates about the war on Twitter were getting unexpectedly suspended. Twitter also paused ads in Russia and Ukraine. The following day, Russia blocked access to Twitter.
February 26: Mykhailo Fedorov posted a tweet that said he has contacted Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook to ask him to block the Apple Store in Russia.
February 26: At the request of the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine, Tesla owner, Elon Musk activated Starlink services in the country.
February 26: Meta prohibited Russian state media to run or monetize from ads. I also introduced a ‘lock profile’ feature on Facebook to increase protection for Ukrainians.
February 28: Google banned the Russian news application RT. People couldn’t download it from the app store and the ones who had it stopped receiving updates on it.
March 1: Apple cut off Russia from product sales. It also disabled live updates and traffic on Apple Maps to ensure the security of Ukrainians and later on March 7, the company stopped advertising on its app store.
March 1: Meta offered encrypted DMs in Ukraine and Russia for additional privacy.
March 2: Snap paused running ads on its platform Snapchat in Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.
March 4: Microsoft suspended the sale of new products and services in Russia. The company said that its main aim was to ensure cyber-security in Ukraine.
March 4: Amazon Web Services halted acceptance of new customers in Belarus and Russia.
March 6: Netflix, the popular streaming platform completely suspended its services in Russia.
March 6: TikTok suspends live streaming and release of new content on the platform in Russia. This was done in response to the ‘fake news’ law the country introduced.
March 7: Cogent Communications the second largest internet provider in Russia cuts ties with the country.
March 7: Samsung stopped shipping its products to Russia and said that it is monitoring the situation continuously to decide what will be their next move.
March 9: Sony joined the bandwagon of other tech companies to stop hardware and software in Russia.
March 9: Amazon suspended access to Prime Video for its customers based in Russia. It also stopped shipments going to Russia and Belarus.
March 9: For additional protection, the social media platform Instagram hid the followers and following count of private accounts in Ukraine and Russia.
March 11: YouTube decided to block Russian state-affiliated channels globally.
March 23: Spotify completely suspended its services in Russia two months after the invasion of Russia.
April 6: Intel suspends its operations in Russia. The company said, “Intel continues to join the global community in condemning Russia’s war against Ukraine and calling for a swift return to peace.”
Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion, tech companies and governments have reacted in a certain way that would deem the war but in spite of this, the tension in the war doesn’t seem to come to an end. There are still many companies placing sanctions and suspending their services in Russia to stop its war tactics.
Recently, Google’s Russian subsidiary announced its plans to file for bankruptcy in the country. This could be the effect of the war on the flipside and it can be anticipated that we will see more of this if the war doesn’t stop.
