Due to concerns over Russia's fake news law... Even China's TikTok "halts streaming and other services"

Netflix with over 1 million Russian customers also announces business suspension

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, global companies have been withdrawing from Russia one after another, and TikTok, a social networking service (SNS) company and a subsidiary of China's ByteDance, has announced the suspension of some services, including live streaming.

According to Bloomberg on the 7th, TikTok stated in a newsroom post on the same day, "Considering Russia's new 'fake news law,' we will suspend uploading new content to live streaming and video services in Russia while reviewing the safety of this law." The in-app messaging service will continue to operate as usual.

The fake news law mentioned by TikTok is a law recently amended by the Russian parliament and signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on the 4th. The law stipulates that spreading fake news about the Russian military can result in up to three years of imprisonment or fines, and in cases where serious consequences occur, up to 15 years of imprisonment may be imposed.

However, TikTok did not say it would completely cease operations but indicated the possibility of resuming business once safety is confirmed after temporarily suspending services.

TikTok emphasized, "We will continue to assess the situation in Russia to consider the timing when safety, our top priority, is confirmed and services can be fully resumed," adding, "People want a space for creativity and entertainment that can provide comfort and sources of interpersonal connection during wartime when they face tremendous tragedy and isolation."

This decision by TikTok comes amid global companies consecutively suspending their operations in Russia. Netflix also announced on the same day, "Considering the on-site situation, we are suspending our business in Russia." Netflix, which has over one million users in Russia, will stop accepting new customer sign-ups and is expected to soon announce measures regarding existing customers.

In addition, global accounting consulting firm PwC and American card company American Express (Amex) also announced on the same day that they would suspend their operations in Russia. PwC, which has over 3,000 partners and employees in Russia and has been operating for more than 30 years, stated that this decision was made in response to the 'reckless war.' Prior to Amex, other global card companies such as Visa and MasterCard had also announced the suspension of their business in Russia.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.