Late Thursday, Google halted all advertising in Russia, after accusations from the country’s communications censor that the company’s YouTube video service was spreading disinformation and inciting rallies.
According to Google, the new rule encompasses YouTube, search, and display advertisements in Russia, which restricted access to Russian state-owned media sites RT and Sputnik across Europe earlier this week following a European Union sanctions order.
“We’re stopping Google advertisements in Russia due to the exceptional circumstances.” “The situation is rapidly unfolding, and we will continue to provide updates as needed,” the business stated in a statement.
Google also said that it has begun banning advertising relating to the war that attempts to profit from the crisis, as well as halting the monetization of Russian state-funded media across all of its platforms.
The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Russia’s censor, Roskomnadzor, started YouTube was launching huge “advertising efforts to misinform the Russian public,” ahead of Google’s ad ban. As part of larger measures to prevent access to material on its invasion of Ukraine that contradicts its official narrative, Russia asked that Google stop broadcasting online-video commercials it defined as “false political information” about Ukraine.
Russian regulators banned access to Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook products last week, saying that the company was blocking access to Russian news organisations. Facebook announced that it has been fact-checking and labelling stories from state-owned media sites and that it would no longer allow Russian state media to run advertising on its platform. Twitter Inc. also stated that site access has been restricted.
Ukraine’s vice prime minister, Mykhailo Fedorov, has also pressured Google, a unit of Alphabet Inc., to quit doing business in Russia. Mr Fedorov tweeted last week, “I’ve contacted the @Google to stop delivering Google services and products to Russian Federation.”
In recent days, Mr Fedorov has made similar demands to other significant Internet businesses. He also requested that the worldwide charity that oversees the upkeep of internet addresses cancel certain domains controlled by Russians. However, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, or ICANN, has stated that such a move is outside its authority.
The demands of Russian and Ukrainian IT companies highlight the internet’s critical role in modern conflict.
In recent days, numerous big IT firms, including Apple Inc., Dell Technologies Inc., and Oracle Corp., have ceased sales in Russia as a result of the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Separately, bitcoin exchanges have been used by people to give money to the Ukrainian government and humanitarian operations.
The Ukrainian government, for its part, has been attempting to bolster the country’s economy through the IT sector in recent years. The country established a Ministry of Digital Transformation and established an official government-based electronic money system.
