TikTok and Netflix Inc. joined a range of companies pulling back on their operations in Russia. TikTok said it’s suspending live streaming in Russia amid the country’s new “fake news” law that’s aimed at silencing dissent and limiting information about its invasion of Ukraine.
Netflix said it’s shutting down operations in Russia, one of the largest media companies to pull out of the market following the attack on Ukraine. No new customers will be able to sign up and it’s unclear what will happen with existing accounts, the company said. The service has more than 1 million customers in Russia.
American Express Co. says it is suspending its operations in Russia and Belarus.
Globally issued American Express cards will no longer work at merchants or ATMs in Russia, while cards issued locally in Russia by Russian banks will no longer work outside of the country on the American Express global network, the company said in a statement.
The BBC’s global news channel, BBC World News, has been taken off air in Russia, the organization reported on its website.
Russian forces launched military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine’s breakaway regions – Donetsk and Luhansk – as independent entities.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a video posted by his office that shelling continued in residential areas of cities including Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second biggest, and Chernihiv, north of Kyiv. He accused Russia of planning to bomb the major port city of Odesa in the south, without elaborating.