22 November 2024, Fri |
11:10 PM
By Sabin Iqbal, Group Editor, TECHx Media
Global tech giants Apple, Meta, Google and Twitter have stepped in with a clutch of measures in support of the Ukrainians in the ongoing war against Russia.
Apple has stopped ‘all exports’ into their sales channel in Russia and restricted services like Apple Pay, said its CEO Tim Cook.
Apple has also made Russian media apps like RT News and Sputnik News unavailable for download from App Store outside Russia. The company has also said that it no longer supports Russian bank Novikombank.
In a letter to Apple’s employees, Cook wrote: “With each new image of families fleeing their homes and brave citizens fighting for their lives, we see how important it is for people around the world to come together to advance the cause of peace.”
“This moment calls for unity, it calls for courage, and it reminds us that we must never lose sight of the humanity we all share,” Cook added.
Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov had written to Cook last week requesting the company to stop its services and products to Russia.
As a safety and precautionary measure for Ukrainian citizens, Apple has also disabled
traffic and live incidents in Apple Maps outside Ukraine.
Meta has also taken steps to support the Ukrainian people. The Facebook’s parent company has barred Russian state media from running ads or monetising on its platform anywhere in the world, according to its security policy head.
“We are now prohibiting Russian state media from running ads or monetising on our platform anywhere in the world,” tweeted Nathaniel Gleicher, Meta’s security policy head. “We also continue to apply labels to additional Russian state media,” he said. “These changes have already begun rolling out and will continue into the weekend.”
Facebook has set up a Special Operations Centre to monitor the ongoing conflict better and respond faster. It has introduced a “one-click-tool” in Ukraine that will allow users to lock their profiles instantly so that those outside their friends’ list can no longer see their images, posts, and other information.
However, it is reported that Russia has partially blocked access to Facebook in the country.
Google has also stepped in with initiatives to support Ukrainians in their war against Russia. It has temporarily disabled some of Google Map’s features in Ukraine, including traffic layers and how busy places are, to help protect Ukrainian people.
Google and its employees contributing $15 million in donations and in-kind to Ukraine for aid relief.
The company has also pitched in with $5 million in ad credits to help trusted organisations working on relief efforts in the affected areas.
Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, tweeted: “As the war and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine escalates, we’re taking more actions to help: SOS alerts, protecting users from cyber attacks, disrupting disinfo campaigns + more. We’re also providing $15M in donations and in-kind support for relief efforts.”
Google’s SOS Alert on Google Search alerts people and guides them towards UN resources for refugees to help with evacuation and refugee information. The company has increased account security to reduce the chances of them getting hacked while also limiting the reach of disinformation campaigns online.
Google has also begun blocking YouTube channels connected to RT and Sputnik across Europe which also means that it has paused monetisation options for Russian state-funded media on the platform.
Microblogging platform Twitter has kicked in with its support for the Ukrainians. It has issued a whole series of tweets in the country to help its users protect themselves, including long threads that included guides and precautionary suggestions in conflict zone.
It is important that these tech giants put their acts together to mitigate the suffering of people caught up in a conflict.
