TikTok, PayPal, Tech Companies Pause Operations in Russia Amid Ukraine War [Full Details]

As a result of the war, a slew of firms and service providers have terminated ties with Russia, including internet giants Microsoft, Apple, and Google.

This weekend, Cogent Communications, the country's second-largest internet provider, went offline in Russia. With major corporations abandoning the country and the international community imposing crippling sanctions, Russia is becoming increasingly isolated from the rest of the world.

Tech Giants Halt Services in Russia

TikTok said on Sunday that it will stop live streaming and uploading new material from Russia, making it the latest digital business to leave the nation. TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese business ByteDance, said it was taking the steps while reviewing Russia's new "fake news" law, which appears to target media sites that disagree with the Kremlin's position on the invasion of Ukraine.

Last week, TikTok joined Meta, Twitter, and YouTube in banning Russian state-sponsored content from the European Union and identifying state-sponsored media throughout the world. The tech platforms have been caught in the middle of the invasion's information war, with Ukrainian authorities, US and European officials pressing them to cut relations with Russia, while Russia pushes them to limit their content.

TikTok has been used by millions of people to get live information and video snippets of the violence in Ukraine. The organization has had to cope with a deluge of recordings, some of which pretend to depict on-the-ground activity but are unconfirmed. As a result, some people are worried that TikTok is spreading false information about the invasion.

Last week, TikTok said that it has increased its resources committed to monitoring war-related misinformation. It's tough to turn down live streaming and fresh uploads from Russia since it would impede regular Russians from distributing independent information. Some Russian journalists and censorship experts have cautioned that blocking tech platforms in Russia will have harmful implications, according to the New York Times.

Companies Support Ukraine Amid Russian Invasion

PayPal has shut down its services in Russia, becoming the latest in a rising number of corporations to do so. The move was in response to Russia's aggressive aggression towards Ukraine.

Mykhailo Fedorov, Ukraine's minister of digital development, confirmed the news on Saturday with a letter from PayPal. The letter stated, "PayPal supports the Ukrainian people and stands with the international community in condemning Russia's violent military aggression in Ukraine."

According to Reuters, PayPal will accept withdrawals in Russia for a limited time, ensuring that account balances are distributed in accordance with applicable rules and regulations.

Due to Russia's escalating invasion of Ukraine, Activision Blizzard and Epic Games have joined a growing number of companies that have halted sales of their games in the nation. Activision president and chief operational officer Daniel Alegre announced the company's decision to stop selling its games to Russian consumers in a staff memo made public on Friday. It will also stop providing in-game microtransactions to those same consumers for the time being.

Epic Games announced their own stoppage of transactions within the nation one day following Activision. It's unclear whether Epic's move applies to both its own games and any Fortnite in-game microtransactions. Furthermore, neither Activision nor Epic made any mention of Belarus in their releases, as per Engadget.