Big Tech vs. Russia

Earlier in the week, a friend mentioned that she is getting some World War anxiety relief by actively supporting Ukrainians fleeing Russian attacks. She’s able to do so as a writer for Airbnb, whose response to the crisis in Ukraine has been exemplary. The company’s nonprofit arm, Airbnb.org, has freed up temporary housing for up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, and the company has suspended operations in Russia and Belarus. There’s even a grassroots campaign of people buying up Airbnbs in Ukraine–without any intention of showing up–to show solidarity and send money.

 

Coordinated Effort

Microsoft and SpaceX are offering their companies' cyber security capabilities as well as satellites in response to ongoing malware threats and telecommunication issues amidst the attacks. Ukraine is also asking for medicine and fuel, and GlaxoSmithKline is supplying antibiotics and painkillers for traumatic injuries, while TotalEnergiesSE is providing fuel. Ryanair, the airline that offers cheap flights between European cities, is loading up its planes' cargo holds to make deliveries to border cities.
 

“Like 1984”

Russia is on the counterattack, banning Facebook and restricting Twitter essentially to shut down non-governmental news sources after the social media giants marshalled internal resources into tagging certain Russian news sources as likely propaganda. This news comes as only the second time Russia has banned a US social media company (it banned LinkedIn in 2016). According to Wired Magazine, the “US social media sites operating in Russia have spent years shaping a presence that maintains just enough of their American identity to be considered a liberal alternative to heavily censored domestic platforms but not enough to prompt Russian regulators to kick them out of the country.”

Russians have long feared being shut off from Western news sources and spent the days before the Facebook block exchanging their Telegram information, the encrypted messaging platform that provides some privacy. Stay tuned for continued coverage of Big Tech’s response to the Ukrainian crisis.