CEO Tim Cook speaks at an Apple event at the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, September 10, 2019.
Stephen Lam Reuters
The largest technology companies in Silicon Valley have made it difficult for people in Russia to access some of the world’s most widely used technologies as President Vladimir Putin continues his invasion of Ukraine.
Many of the actions have been taken in line with sanctions imposed by the US government.
Apple stepped up on Tuesday when it announced it was suspending sales in Russia of the iPhone, iPad, MacBook, Mac and all other products.
“They’re ahead,” CCS Insight chief analyst Ben Wood told CNBC, adding that it puts pressure on competing companies to follow suit.
The Cupertino-based company also said it had removed Russian-backed state-run RT News and Sputnik News from its App Store worldwide, with the exception of Russia.
Google has removed both news releases from its Play Store in Europe.
The search giant in Mountain View told CNBC on Friday that it was also stopping all advertising in Russia.
The decision comes after Russia’s Internet watchdog, Roskomnadzor, accused YouTube, a division of Google, of conducting major advertising campaigns to misinform Russians about the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
“In light of the extraordinary circumstances, we are pausing Google ads in Russia,” a Google spokesman said.
“The situation is evolving rapidly and we will continue to share updates when needed,” they added.
Meanwhile, the housing-sharing platform Airbnb has said it is suspending all operations in Russia and Belarus.
Brian Cesky, the company’s chief executive and co-founder, announced the move on Twitter late Thursday, three days after Airbnb said it would offer free, temporary housing for up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine.
Further up the West Coast in Redmond, Washington, Microsoft is also withdrawing from Russia.
Microsoft President Brad Smith said in a blog post Friday that the company would “suspend all new sales of Microsoft products and services in Russia” and suspend “many aspects of our business in Russia in line with government sanctions.” Microsoft has not clarified how and whether it plans to continue supporting existing customers in Russia.
The question now is how far will the technology giants go?
Earlier this week, Mikhail Fedorov, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, called on Apple CEO Tim Cook to complete the work and block access to Russia’s App Store.
He also called Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation stop supporting Russian markets and “temporarily blocks all Russian and Belarusian accounts.”
Meta said it hopes to stay online in Russia so it can help counter the propaganda shared on its platform.
“We believe that shutting down our services will stifle important expression at a crucial moment,” Nick Clegg, recently appointed vice president of global affairs, wrote on Twitter on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Chinese technology companies have been particularly quiet. Companies, including Huawei, Xiaomi and Alibaba, declined to comment when they contacted CNBC on whether to cut back on business in Russia.
TikTok, owned by Beijing-based ByteDance, is one of only Chinese companies to take any action. TikTok said it would restrict access to RT and Sputnik in the European Union.