Google has said it won’t allow Russian state media outlets to run ads and that it has blocked certain features of its map service in Ukraine to protect local citizens, in the latest move by a leading tech company against the crisis in Ukraine.
Google Maps blocked features in Ukraine that provide real-time information on users’ movements.
Google said it stopped the live traffic overlay and the Live Busyness, which shows how popular a location is at any given time. The company said it took the measures after consulting with local officials and to “help keep Ukrainians safe.”
Traffic updates are still available when using Google Maps’ navigation mode, Google said.
Google, Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube have taken a range of measures in response to Moscow’s operation. There has not been any response yet from video sharing app TikTok.
Google’s subsidiary YouTube on Saturday said it was preventing several Russian channels, including RT (Russia Today), from earning revenue on the platform.
YouTube also said it would be significantly limiting recommendations to those channels.
Facebook on Friday restricted Russian state media’s ability to earn money on its platform.
“We are now prohibiting Russian state media from running ads or monetizing on our platform anywhere in the world,” Nathaniel Gleicher, the social media giant’s security policy head, said on Twitter.
He added that Facebook would “continue to apply labels to additional Russian state media.”
Likewise, Twitter has suspended all advertising in Ukraine and Russia, saying on Friday it took the measure “to ensure critical public safety information is elevated and ads don’t detract from it.”
Twitter’s safety team tweeted, “Our top priority is keeping people on Twitter safe.”
Source: Agencies
