Google, Twitter, Apple and Snapchat are amongst the technology behemoths donating funds to pay for aid in Ukraine.
Kent Walker, Google (or Alphabet’s) President of Global Affairs has detailed in blog posts how the company has raised $15 million for relief efforts. “We have all seen the pictures of the unfolding humanitarian and refugee disaster in Ukraine”, he writes.
Google’s teams have now developed a flagging system so businesses in neighbouring countries can indicate if they can offer help to refugees; Google for Startups Campus in Warsaw is being used to help refugees; and it has rolled out a rapid Air Raid Alerts system for Android phones in Ukraine.
Meta (formerly Facebook) reported on 17 March: “We’ve already seen more than $40 million raised across Instagram and Facebook for nonprofits supporting humanitarian relief in Ukraine.” Alike Google, it has also acted to counter misinformation being spread by malicious agents on social media platforms.
Apple added a donate button on a banner on its website for Unicef and matched employee’s donations; as well as pausing sales in Russia and making it impossible to download RT News and Sputnik News from the App Store. Meanwhile, Snapchat has disabled its public “heatmap” for Ukraine, which shows how many snaps are being taken in specific locations. This is to protect the movement of Ukrainian citizens, it explained. Google and Apple have turned off their live traffic maps in the country.
Ukraine’s Minister of Digital Transformation, Mykhailo Fedorov, has tweeted directly to the CEO’s of some of the biggest tech companies - including Elon Musk - for help countering Russia’s disinformation campaign and to keep citizens safe. On 29th March, Google’s CEO, Sundar Pichai wrote: “We’ll continue to invest in the region and support people and businesses affected by the war and its hardships. And when this war ends, we will be here for Ukraine and the region for the long haul.”
Katie Scott, Brainz Magazine
