Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, is the latest internet company to weigh in on the Russian attack on Ukraine. The social messaging and media company said it has stopped running all advertising in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine and is halting ad sales to all Russian and Belarusian entities as part of “complying with all sanctions targeting Russian businesses and individuals.”
The company said it doesn’t believe that suspending ads in those markets will materially impact its business. Snap said it continues to offer the Snapchat application in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia “as it remains an important communications tool for family and friends.”
The company noted that Ukraine is the birthplace of Looksery, the company whose technology laid the foundation for Snap’s augmented reality platform, “and has been the home of more than 300 of Snap’s most creative and talented team members.” That includes both Snap employees currently based in Ukraine as well as those who are from Ukraine originally and now live elsewhere.
Snap has pledged more than $15 million in humanitarian aid to support organizations providing direct relief to the people of Ukraine. That funding is from CEO Evan Spiegel and CTO Bobby Murphy personally, along with Victor Shaburov, Snap’s director of Cameos and founder of Looksery, and Snap itself. “Many of our friends and teammates remain in Ukraine. Some have joined the fight to defend their country,” the company said in a blog post.
“We stand in solidarity with our Ukrainian team members and the people of Ukraine who are fighting for their lives and for their freedom,” Snap said in the post. “War is a scourge on our collective humanity, and in this case, it is a direct threat to many of our team members and their families. We are praying for their safety and for peace.”
Snap said it is “vigilantly monitoring” Snapchat for any evidence of disinformation or misuse “while we focus on providing accurate news coverage and information to our global community” through its partnerships with media publishers for the Discover content platform.
Snapchat Discover features only feature content from verified media partners and creators, “and we have never allowed Russian state media to distribute content,” the company said. Snap added that it does not accept revenue from Russian state-owned entities.
