From SpaceX to Apple, Google and Twitter – here’s how Big Tech is trying to help Ukraine against Russia

• Help has been pouring in for Ukraine from several corners, apart from the full weight of the Western nations behind the country.
  
• After appeals by the country’s politicians, including its prime minister Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Big Tech has stepped up its efforts to fight back against Russian aggression.
  
• Here’s a look at how big tech companies, including Apple, Google, SpaceX, Microsoft and others have helped Ukraine to fight back against Russia.
  

The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has seen the Western world take a decisive stance against Russia, and it’s not just the governments that are trying to help Ukraine – Big Tech has stepped up in its bid to not only offer assistance to Ukraine but also actively take a stance against Russian aggression.

Ukrainian politicians, right from the country’s prime minister Volodymyr Zelenskyy to ordinary citizens, have been trying to defy Russian aggression in various capacities. Zelenskyy’s appeals have also managed to move foreign nationals enough for them to enter Ukraine to fight back against Russian forces.

However, apart from Western nations, Big Tech has also played a significant role in making things difficult for Russia, and easier for Ukraine.

Here’s how Big Tech is trying to aid Ukraine and fight back against Russia

Elon Musk’s SpaceX brings Starlink constellation over Ukraine

Elon Musk responded to a request on Twitter, helping Ukrainian residents access the internet once again. The SpaceX boss aligned the Starlink satellite constellation to beam internet over Ukraine, helping the country recover from the Russian forces’ onslaught on Ukraine’s communications infrastructure.

Apple stops all sales in Russia

In its first step, Apple announced that it is stopping all sales in Russia after appeals from Ukraine’s deputy prime minister. Apart from this, it also stopped traffic and live incident updates in Apple Maps, and blocked access to the App Store in Russia.

Outside of Russia, Apple said it removed RT and Sputnik apps from the App Store in a bid to help curtail Russian propaganda.

Microsoft keeping a check on Russian hacking threats

On its part, Microsoft said it is trying to detect and alert the Ukrainian government about cyber attacks against the country, targeting Ukraine’s digital assets, finance, agriculture and other critical sectors.

Apart from this, it also removed the RT app from the Windows App Store and deranked RT and Sputnik on Bing.

Meta, Twitter and YouTube help mitigate Russian disinformation campaigns

Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have all placed restrictions on Russian state-media from running ads on their platforms, with YouTube going a step further and demonetising these media publications.

Apart from this, these platforms are also working to fact check Russian disinformation campaigns.

Google disables live traffic data in Ukraine

The search giant announced that it has updated its Search and Maps services to help refugees get the latest information from United Nations resources. It also disabled live traffic and busy-ness layers from Google Maps in a bid to keep the local population safe.

Additionally, Google also revealed that it is trying to help Ukrainian websites stay up by staving off Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks from Russia.

It also blocked RT and Sputnik channels on YouTube.

Netflix denies the addition of Russian state channels on its platform

Netflix defied Russian laws to add 20 Russian state channels on its platform. It was required to do so because of a law that came into force on March 1. Media reports also suggest that Netflix has also paused all Russian programme productions and new acquisitions.

CD Projekt Red stops sale of its video game Cyberpunk 2077 in Russia and Belarus

Popular video game developer CD Projekt Red, based out of neighbouring Poland, $4 that it has stopped sales of its video game, Cyberpunk 2077, in Russia and Belarus. This includes sales via its digital as well as physical distribution networks.

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