A Ukrainian official has called on Apple to cut off Russians' access to the App Store, as internet censorship in Russia ramps up pressure on tech companies and on social media that protesters have used to voice their opposition to the war. and organizing protests.
In a report published by The Washington Post, writer Kat Zakirzoski says that with the Ukrainian capital under siege, major technology companies are under increasing pressure to use their influence on the world's most famous phones, apps and social media platforms to take action against Russia. A company announced on Twitter that some people have free and open access to the internet in Russia even though everyone should have it alike, especially in times of crisis.
Technology companies have long positioned themselves as beacons of free speech and democratic standards, but the war in Ukraine is testing these values in new ways, from the halls of Congress to Twitter feeds and pro-Ukrainian activists, as companies face a growing clamor to take a tougher line on Russia, which It is famous for its use of popular technology to influence geopolitics.
The writer notes that the Ukrainian Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, has sent a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, asking him to stop providing products and services - including the App Store - to Russia, a step that would motivate young Russians to stop the aggression. The disgraced military proactively called the Meta companies - formerly Facebook - and Google and Netflix, asking them to suspend services in Russia, in addition to asking YouTube to block Russian propaganda channels.
And it seems that Google was quick to meet the demand, as a company spokesman announced today, Tuesday, that the YouTube platform "with immediate effect" blocked the channels of the Russian state broadcasters RT and Sputnik across Europe.
According to the writer, the Chairman of the US Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Mark Warner, called on Twitter and Meta to take a firm stand against information operations linked to Russia, warning of the possibility of an escalation in Russia's use of both overt and covert means, to instill confusion about the conflict and promote misinformation accounts. That weakens the global response to these illegal acts as the war progresses.
Apple CEO Tim Cook participates in an American Workforce Policy Advisory Board meeting with US President Donald Trump and others in the White House State Dining Room in Washington, US, March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Leah MillisMikhailo Fedorov sent a letter to the CEO of Apple, asking him to stop providing products and services in Russia (Reuters)
And the writer observed that Twitter users invite their followers to report a channel with more than 22,000 followers on YouTube, in which videos are exchanged about the movements of Ukrainian forces, which resulted in YouTube preventing some Russian channels from making profit as a result of the content they provide.
“Currently, we are limiting the ability of a number of channels to earn money through YouTube, including many Russian channels that will be limited to recommendations related to recent sanctions,” the writer quoted Farshad Shadlow, a YouTube spokesperson, as saying in a statement to the Washington Post. In response to a government request, we have restricted access to RT and a number of other channels in Ukraine, and we will continue to monitor new developments and may take further action.”
In the same context, Karin Kornbluh, director of the Digital Innovation and Democracy Initiative at the German Marshall Fund, said, "There is a growing sense that they (social media sites) have a moral obligation to ensure that their sites are not exploited in crises, and the Russian evidence is clear given the pressures on companies in Regarding not acting against fake accounts even after they are used to interfere with humanitarian assistance or fuel conflict."
Zakirzewski considered that President Biden's announcement of sanctions against Russia would affect high-tech imports, which would weaken its competitiveness in the high-tech economy of the 21st century, indicating that the sanctions were largely focused on semiconductors and other advanced technology tools that benefit the Russian defense sector.
Policymakers, journalists, technologists, and human rights advocates are now pressuring tech companies to act more aggressively, with social media platforms in particular coming under scrutiny for their role in promoting Russian state media.
According to the writer, Senator Warner accused the platforms of using misleading information to make money, writing that his team discovered that YouTube was showing ads and videos about the Ukrainian conflict from RT and Sputnik, two Russian state media organizations, at a time when the Google ad network was supporting Russian state media by sending ads to Sputnik and TASS, saying that unintended ads from brands are being run by Google on the web pages of those outlets.
The writer stated that others have called for RT and people associated with it to be banned from major social media sites, and questioned why its editor is allowed to spread lies on Twitter, a site that names the accounts of state-run media institutions and their senior staff, and does not allow media outlets. The government paid to promote the tweets, noting that the site announced its strict monitoring of Ukraine-related risks by declaring that ads were temporarily suspended in Russia and Ukraine to ensure they did not detract from basic safety information.
The writer went on to review the positions of technology companies on Russia's war on Ukraine, as Meta announced that it will prevent Russian state media from displaying ads or monetizing its platform anywhere in the world, and said that it will continue to implement audits of Russian state media publications.
Nick Clegg, head of global affairs at Meta, earlier tweeted that the Russian authorities had restricted the use of the company's services after Facebook named and examined posts published by 4 state-owned media organizations, adding that the Russian authorities had ordered the company to stop fact-checking and labeling. But she refused.
For its part, the Russian authorities confirmed - as quoted by the writer - in a post on Telegram that they had taken measures to restrict access to Facebook by slowing down traffic to the site.
The writer pointed out that technology companies had previously succumbed to Internet censorship pressures in Russia, as Apple and Google removed the opposition voting application from their app stores with the start of voting in the country’s parliamentary elections, after the Russian censorship agency accused them of interfering in the country’s political affairs and threatened them with fines. and possible criminal prosecutions.
Internet freedom advocates warn that tech platforms are an important source of independent information for people in Russia, and that restricting access to them could leave people vulnerable to the Russian government's advocacy and incitement to war with Ukraine.
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