Spotify is the latest media and tech company to stand with Ukraine in response to Russia’s invasion of the country, and it has responded by shuttering its office based in Russia and working to remove Kremlin-backed media from its platform.
The Russian Spotify office will be closed “indefinitely,” according to a statement from a Spotify spokesperson, and the streaming service is “providing individual support to our personnel in the region as well as our global community of Ukrainian employees.”
However, the statement makes it clear that Spotify will not disable service in Russia altogether in order to provide Russian residents with the “global flow of information.”
Spotify has though removed content from RT and Sputnik in the EU and other markets, and the rep says that their team has reviewed thousands of pieces of content since the start of the war in Ukraine and restricted the discoverability of shows owned or run by Russian state-affiliated media. Further, the company launched a guide for users to access trusted news platforms.
Spotify also aims to match donations from their employees two to one in support of local humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.
See the full statement below:
We are deeply shocked and saddened by the unprovoked attack on Ukraine. Our first priority over the past week has been the safety of our employees and to ensure that Spotify continues to serve as an important source of global and regional news at a time when access to information is more important than ever. In response to the crisis, we have taken several steps. We have closed our office in Russia indefinitely and we are providing individual support to our personnel in the region as well as our global community of Ukrainian employees. Our team has reviewed thousands of pieces of content since the start of the war, and has restricted the discoverability of shows owned and operated by Russian state-affiliated media. Earlier this week, we also took the additional step of removing all RT and Sputnik content from Spotify in the EU and other markets. Today, we launched a global guide on the Spotify platform to provide our users around the world with trusted news. We think it’s critically important to try to keep our service operational in Russia to allow for the global flow of information. Our employees around the world are committed to helping people affected by the war in Ukraine and we are matching their donations two to one to support local humanitarian efforts. We are exploring additional steps that we can take and will continue to do what is in the best interest of our employees and our listeners.
Spotify Spokesperson
