Spotify said on Wednesday it had closed its Russian office indefinitely in response to what the audio streaming platform described as an “unprovoked attack by Moscow on Ukraine”.
Since July 2021, Russian legislation signed by President Vladimir Putin has forced foreign social media companies with over 500,000 daily users to open local offices or be subject to restrictions as severe as outright bans.
Before the March deadline, only a few companies, including Spotify, complied. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last week, which Moscow calls a “special operation”, Western governments have urged companies to back off in every possible way.
“Our first priority this past week was the safety of our employees and ensuring that Spotify continues to serve as a leading source of global and regional news at a time when access to information is more important than ever,” Spotify said. in a statement.
Spotify said it had reviewed thousands of content since the start of the war and restricted discovery of programs owned and operated by Russian state media.
Earlier this week, it also removed all state media content RT and Sputnik from Spotify in the European Union, the United States and other markets around the world except Russia, following similar footsteps from Meta’s Facebook and Twitter.
Spotify said it would match employee donations two for one to support local humanitarian efforts.
Source: CNN Brasil
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