It has been almost a week since Russia first invaded the neighbouring Ukraine. Over time, the country has intensified its attacks on the country and now they have taken control of Kherson, which is the first major city to fall amid the conflict. Since the assault began, over one million Ukranians have crossed over to the neighbouring countries including Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and northern Romania. The governments of the neighbouring countries have set up tents to provide medical aid and food to the refugees. On the other hand, tech companies have started pulling out of Russia and banning their state-sponsored media channels to disrupt the Russian agenda and cut off Russia economically. Also Read - How to create a Meta 3D Avatar on Facebook
Here’s a comprehensive list of what tech companies are doing in order to help people in Ukraine. Also Read - Google Street View turns 15: Here are top features coming to it
Oracle and SAP
Oracle Corp has suspended all its operations in Russia. It’s rival SAP SE has also announced that it would pause all sales in the country following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. “We are stopping business in Russia aligned with sanctions and, in addition, pausing all sales of SAP services and products in Russia…We have allocated an initial 1 million Euros in humanitarian support for the people of Ukraine and are working with national Red Cross organisations, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and other organisations to offer our technology to support their efforts,” SAP wrote in its blog post. Also Read - Google Assistant will now help you secure your passwords on Chrome
SAP stands with Ukraine. https://t.co/OvbylGun40
— Christian Klein (@ChrstnKlein) March 2, 2022
Amazon
Similarly, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy has pledged logistics support to the government in Ukraine. The Amazon lead has said that the company will provide its logistics capability to get supplies to those in need and cybersecurity expertise to help governments and companies in Ukraine.
(2/2) We’re supporting humanitarian relief NGOs on the ground with cash donations from Amazon and our employees, logistics to get supplies to people needing them, and cyber security assistance to companies and governments.
— Andy Jassy (@ajassy) March 3, 2022
Spotify
Spotify has said that it has closed its office in Russia indefinitely in response to the attack on Ukraine. The company has also restricted the discoverability of shows owned and operated by Russian media and removed all content from Russian state media RT and Sputnik from almost all of its markets around the globe except for Russia. Additionally, the company has said that it would match employee donations, two-to-one, to support local humanitarian efforts.
PayPal
PayPal has stopped accepting new users in Russia. “Since this crisis began, PayPal has actively worked to enable donations to non-profit fundraising efforts in support of Ukrainian humanitarian relief efforts,” PayPal said in a statement to Reuters
Binance
Similarly, cryptocurrency exchange Binance has said that the cardholders of sanctioned Russian banks will not be able to use them on its platform. It has also restricted the access of sanctioned individuals, Reuters reported.
Netflix
Netflix, as per Reuters, has temporarily stopped all future projects and acquisitions in Russia. In addition to this, the company has halted its plans of adding state-run channels to its Russian service.
Apple
Apple has paused the sale of all its products in Russia. The company has also restricted services such as Apple Pay in the country. “I am deeply concerned with the situation in Ukraine. We’re doing all we can for our teams there and will be supporting local humanitarian efforts,” Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in a tweet.
Cook has also urged the company’s employees to donate for relief work in the country. In a letter to Apple employees, Cook said that the company would manage their donations at a rate of 2:1. You can read his letter here.
I am deeply concerned with the situation in Ukraine. We’re doing all we can for our teams there and will be supporting local humanitarian efforts. I am thinking of the people who are right now in harm’s way and joining all those calling for peace.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) February 25, 2022
Airbnb
Airbnb has announced that it will provide free temporary housing to 1,00,000 refugees from Ukraine. Additionally, it is urging people to donate to support the relief work in Ukraine.
refugees fleeing ukraine who are in need of immediate support can get connected to available resources from @Refugees: https://t.co/MVXuEdSGmk
— Airbnb (@Airbnb) February 28, 2022
Microsoft
Microsoft is working with the European Union, US government, NATO and the United Nations to warn the Ukrainian government about cyberattacks from Russia. The company is also working on protecting people from Russian disinformation campaign. “We are also focused as a company in protecting against state-sponsored disinformation campaigns which have long been commonplace in times of war,” Microsoft wrote in a blog post.
Nokia
Nokia has stopped deliveries to Russia owing to the sanctions imposed on the country.
Google Maps
Google has announced that it has temporarily disabled a bunch of Google Maps features in a bid to prevent Russian forces from identifying areas where Ukrainian citizens are taking shelter.
Google is also donating funds for relief operations in Ukraine. “Google.org and Google employees are contributing $15 million in donations and in-kind support to aid relief efforts in Ukraine, including $5 million so far from our employee matching campaign and $5 million in direct grants,” Google wrote in a blog post.
Google has also launched an SOS alert on Search across Ukraine. “When people search for refugee and evacuation information, they will see an alert pointing them to United Nations resources for refugees and asylum seekers,” the company added.
Google has also restricted access to Google Pay in Russia.
YouTube
Alphabet Inc also announced that it had blocked YouTube channels connected to RT and Sputnik across Europe. It has also paused monetisation of Russian state-funded media across all of its platforms. Additionally, it has significantly limited recommendations globally for a number of Russian state-funded media outlets across its platforms.
SpaceX and Tesla
SpaceX has delivered Starlink satellite internet terminals to help restore the internet in Ukraine. Additionally, Tesla has said that its supercharging public stations will be free for regions bordering Ukraine to reduce transportation costs for Tesla owners.
Starlink — here. Thanks, @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/dZbaYqWYCf
— Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) February 28, 2022
Twitter has said that it will add labels to all tweets of Russian state-affiliated media websites. The company also announced that it will reduce the circulation of content from state-affiliated media on the platform. Additionally, the company has restricted its service for some users in Russia.
We’re aware that Twitter is being restricted for some people in Russia and are working to keep our service safe and accessible.
— Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) February 26, 2022
Meta
Facebook has banned Russian state media from running ads and monetising content on the platform, Facebook’s head of security policy Nathaniel Gleicher has said. The company has also announced that it will be restricting access to RT and Sputnik across the EU. Additionally, Instagram is end-to-end encrypting all DMs on its platform in Ukraine to make conversations safe.
