Google, Meta, and Twitter are blocking Kremlin owned channels from selling ads and pushing propaganda as part of ongoing sanctions against Russia.
Itโs been four days since Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine, and Big Tech is starting to respond.
Sanctions against Russia from EU nations and members of NATO continue to come to light, and self-governed social media websites are now making their respective stances clear.
Something of a joint digital embargo is underway to prevent the Kremlin state from profiting or spreading propaganda online for what YouTube seniors cite as โextraordinary circumstances.โ
Meanwhile, this state of play, predictably, is being countered by Russia. At present, Twitter and Facebook are both partially restricted in the country and Putin is pushing back against efforts to fact-check state media accounts.
Weโve seen this sort of thing pan out before โ notably when Google and Facebook paused political ads during the 2020 US election โ but you can expect the online retort to be even firmer in this instance.
Which platforms are involved?
On Friday, within a matter of hours, both Facebookโs parent company Meta and Twitter announced separate bans to all Russian state-owned media from running ads on their platforms.
โWe are now prohibiting Russian state media from running ads or monetising on our platform anywhere in the world,โ announced Nataniel Gliecher, head of security at Meta. He also stated that further penalties are in the works to be added shortly.
On the same day, @TwitterSafety revealed Twitter is โtemporarily pausing advertisements in Ukraine and Russia to ensure critical public safety information is elevated and ads donโt detract from it.โ
https://twitter.com/TwitterSafety/status/1497353965419257860?s=20&t=VoGWUXM_w2cGrsSf5x6zyQ
24 hours on, YouTube announced that it would be heavily restricting access to Russian channels, including RT โ a largely pro-Putin news outlet regarded as the CNN of Russia โ so that its content is not accessible from Ukraine. Again, the option to buy ad space is off the table.
Google then followed its subsidiary by ruling out monetisation opportunities on its search engine, and Gmail feature, as well as disabling Google Maps tools which may have helped Russian forces navigate Ukraine.