Russian And Ukraine Conflict Update: TikTok Restrictions And Netflix Suspends Services

Netflix has announced that it will be suspending its services in Russia, along with a long list of other companies who are “boycotting” the country due to the Russian conflict in Ukraine. Further to this, TikTok is also amongst the other companies to restrict and block users in Russia from posting and viewing videos. Read on for the latest updates on the circumstances so far.

A Netflix spokesperson said, “Given the circumstances on the ground, we have decided to suspend our service in Russia.” They had earlier already announced that the streaming service would pause all future projects and acquisitions from Russia; the suspension of services in Russia itself was confirmed on Sunday the 6^th of March. The company say they found that operating in Russia during the invasion was “too challenging given the increase in sanctions and growing payment challenges,” according to reports by Wall Street Journal.

Just last week, Visa and Mastercard services were blocked for Russian banks; the “country’s banks were also US, UK and EU agree to remove select Russian banks from SWIFT banking system, the international financial messaging system.”

The major video-based social media platform, TikTok, released a statement on Twitter saying, “In light of Russia’s new ‘fake news’ law, we have no choice but to suspend live streaming and new content to our video service while we review the safety implications of this law. Our in-app messaging service will not be affected.”

TikTok acted in response to the Russian government’s “crackdown on social media, citing punitive new laws criminalizing the spread of ‘fake’ information concerning the government’s assault on Ukraine”, according to CBS News. This law was passed on Friday the 4^th of March by the Russian parliament. “Penalizes those who discredit the Russian armed forces or call for sanctions against the country. It also makes it illegal to intentionally spread ‘false’ information, including language that describes Russia’s attack against Ukraine as an “invasion,” under threat of a 15-year prison sentence.”

In addition to these recent news, Disney had announced early last week that it was pausing all movie debuts in Russia; Warner Bros., Sony, Paramount Pictures, and Universal followed suit. Microsoft, Dell, Google, Apple, and Samsung have also suspended sales to Russia. Ikea has closed stores in Russia and Nike has said that it will no longer fulfil online orders from Russia. American Express also announced earlier in the day it would suspend operations in Russia, as well as in Russian-allied Belarus.

Keep a look out for further updates on social media and on TGZ Magazine on the Russian and Ukraine conflict.