The conflict is coming to a head in Ukraine. It is a battle for the media in the two countries, especially in Russia. There, instead of "invasion," it's called "special operation" because the media have now been hit hard by Russia's President Vladimir Putin to distribute his propaganda in the country. Another way to get information in the country is through social media. But are these available at all, or have the respective governments pulled the emergency brake on them?
Just a few weeks ago, Mark Zuckerberg announced the withdrawal of his companies from Europe because the data protection regulations were too strict for him.
But with the current crisis, that doesn't seem to be an issue right now. Meta announced on Tuesday that they will limit content from the Russian government. Also, according to Nathaniel Gleicher, the company will mark links to Russian websites (if any are still available right now) accordingly. The corporation has also confirmed that it is working on encrypted direct messaging on Instagram so that governments don't intrude on people's privacy. However, this is only supposed to apply to Ukraine and Russia.
Google is also helping Ukraine. So far, $15 million has been donated. 5 million of that has gone in advertising credits to support humanitarian organizations. Refugee camps are also marked on Google Maps and how crowded they are. Also, traffic is marked more accurately on Google Maps.
The news agencies Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik are also blocked on YouTube, which means that the Russian agencies can no longer advertise themselves. The same applies to other Russian news agencies on YouTube.
There is also direct help in Ukraine from Google's side. Google's local security people have been working in Ukraine since January to provide help. Also, the absence of the helpers at Google is paid.
The company will continue their services in Russia. However, Google Pay may not be available with the sanctions. All other services, such as Google Maps, Google Search and YouTube will remain active in Russia to ensure global information and perspectives.
