Netflix and TikTok have suspended most of their services in Russia, as the government there cracks down on what people and media outlets can say about Russia’s war in Ukraine.
TikTok spokesperson Hilary McQuaide said the TikTok app in Russia now appears in “view-only” mode and won't let people post or see new videos or livestreams. They can still see older videos, but not if they came from outside the country, she said.
“The safety of employees is our top priority,” she said, adding that the company — part of China-based tech company ByteDance — didn't want to put either its Russian employees or users at risk of severe criminal penalties. The new legislation, quickly rubber-stamped by both houses of the Kremlin-controlled parliament and signed by Putin, imposes prison sentences of up to 15 years for those spreading information that goes against the Russian government’s narrative on the war.
Multiple news outlets have also said they would pause their work inside Russia to evaluate the situation. Russian authorities have repeatedly and falsely decried reports of Russian military setbacks or civilian deaths in Ukraine as “fake” news. State media outlets refer to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “special military operation” rather than a war or an invasion.
The law envisages sentences of up to three years or fines for spreading what authorities deem to be false news about the military, but the maximum punishment rises to 15 years for cases deemed to have led to “severe consequences.”
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