Major Tech and Financial Firms Sever Ties with Russia Over Ukraine Invasion
Credit card giants Visa and Mastercard, along with PayPal, TikTok, and Netflix, suspend Russian services in response to the invasion of Ukraine and strict new media laws. Ukraine continues to pressure other tech leaders like Microsoft, Apple, and Google to cut off access as well.
Major technology and financial companies cut off services to Russia in protest of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine and a new Russian law that criminalizes independent war reporting. Credit card giants Visa and Mastercard suspend their network operations, meaning cards issued in Russia no longer work abroad and foreign cards no longer function inside the country. Both companies state they will continue to pay their Russian employees, even as Russian banks reportedly seek workarounds through Chinese payment processors.
PayPal joins the financial exodus by halting its domestic services, while social video app TikTok blocks all new content uploads and live streams from within Russia. These consumer-facing suspensions go beyond government sanctions and represent voluntary corporate decisions driven by the harsh new media legislation. This law makes it illegal to refer to the conflict as a war, threatening journalists and citizens with up to 15 years in prison for spreading "fake news."
Streaming giant Netflix also suspends its Russian service amid a separate regulation that forces large platforms to broadcast state-controlled television channels. Despite this wave of corporate departures, Ukrainian government officials demand even more action from other tech heavyweights. Ukraine actively pressures Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, and Google to further isolate Russia by cutting off additional software, cloud, and digital services.