An Online War: How Big Tech is Responding to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

Multinational big tech companies have a significant amount of influence in today’s digital world, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine has created a new, previously unforeseen issue for these companies, by turning many of these platforms into information battlegrounds.

After European Union President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Sunday that the E.U. would ban Russian state-owned media to prevent the spread of misinformation and propaganda in the region, many Big Tech companies decided to follow suit.

Lev Gershenzon, the former head of news at Yandex, Russia’s largest tech company and the country’s second-largest search engine has also publicly denounced the invasion of Ukraine on a Facebook post, urging his former colleagues to refrain from being accomplices of the war.

Caught in the middle of geopolitical conflicts, these technology companies must carefully navigate their way through a time where they hold an extraordinary amount of power. The Org has looked into the ways a handful of these multinational Big Tech companies have been responding to the escalating conflict.

Meta

Meta – Facebook, Whatsapp and Instagram’s parent company — has established a special operations center that is closely monitoring Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Russian state media ads are now prohibited on Meta’s platforms and their accounts have also been demonetized. Access to RT and Sputnik across the EU on these platforms has been disabled, and all one-on-one chats on Instagram between adults in Ukraine and Russia are now end-to-end encrypted.

Alphabet

Similar to Meta, Google’s parent company Alphabet has banned all Russian state-owned media outlets and channels from receiving money from ads on their platforms. YouTube channels and content connected to the Russian state-controlled international television networks RT and Sputnik have also been blocked.

Google confirmed to Reuters on Sunday that it had temporarily disabled live traffic information on Google Maps in Ukraine for the safety of civilians.

International activist and hacktivist collective and movement Anonymous has also urged civilians to write reviews on Russian landmarks on Google Maps about what is happening in Ukraine to spread information to Russian citizens.

Twitter

Twitter has temporarily paused all advertisements in Russia and Ukraine for public safety purposes. The company has confirmed that all Russian state-affiliated media will include labels to reduce the spread of misinformation on its platform.

“We’ve learned that labeling Tweets is another way we can add helpful context to conversations around some of the most critical issues, such as COVID-19 and elections happening around the world,” Yoel Roth, Twitter’s Head of Site Integrity wrote in a tweet.

Tik Tok:

Video-sharing platform Tik Tok has become a breeding ground for misinformation on the invasion of Ukraine.

Although there is authentic content being posted on the platform, earning some creators a shoutout in Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s speech, a handful of users have posted fake videos, and used video game footage, claiming it is from the war to spread misinformation. One user even pretended to livestream from Ukraine to swindle donations.

A Tik Tok spokesperson has responded saying that the company is taking action against these users.

“We continue to closely monitor the situation, with increased resources to respond to emerging trends and remove violative content, including harmful misinformation and promotion of violence,” a TikTok spokesperson told Reuters.