Western/American tech multinationals suspend most activities in Russia in protest of Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine
Alphabet Inc. (Google parent company) has decided on the one hand to censor Russian media in its search media (Russia Today and Sputnik) and on the other to nip Russia’s advertising divide in the bud. The Russians demanded that Google not allow ads in articles that according to them “disinformed” about the war – So what Google did is not to complicate life and cut ads completely in Russian territory.
Microsoft stops selling most of its products in Russia, although it does not drop support for products it already has sold. A few days earlier, it also removed the “Russia Today” apps from the Windows app store.
They have also stated that they have actively positioned themselves in favor of the Ukrainian side and have helped in cyber-security issues for the neighboring country of Russia.
The two consumer electronics giants have also withdrawn from Russia and have stopped selling all their products. Except for the Apple AppStore, which is still open for now.
The American multinationals CISCO, Oracle and Netflix have suspended all activities in Russia, and the Swedish Spotify has done the same with its music streaming service.
On the other hand, Airbnb has suspended all rentals in the territories of Russia and Belarus.
These two American multinationals, plus the vast majority of Chinese companies, have not decided to take the step and join the general trend of turning their back on Russia in the face of its illegal attack on another sovereign country.
Chinese multinationals such as Xiaomi, Huawei, Alibaba (Aliexpress), have not positioned themselves and have declined to make statements. Only TikTok (owned by Tencent) has decided at the last minute to suspend the creation of videos and live broadcasts in Russia. It also censored RT and Sputnik videos in the EU.
There are already movements on social networks calling for a boycott of all those companies that do not make any gestures against Russia.
