Spotify shuts offices in Russia indefinitely

In response to Moscow’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine, Spotify has closed its office in Russia indefinitely.

According to legislation signed by President Vladimir Putin in July 2021, foreign social media companies with more than 500,000 daily users must open local offices or be subject to restrictions as severe as outright bans.

Ahead of the March deadline, only a few companies, including Spotify, had complied.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last week, which Moscow calls a “special operation,” Western governments have urged companies to push back on Putin in any way possible.

“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,” Spotify said in a statement.

In addition to reviewing thousands of pieces of content since the start of the war, Spotify has restricted the discovery of shows owned and operated by Russian state-affiliated media companies.

It also removed state media content from Spotify earlier this week in the EU, the US and other regions, except for Russia, following similar steps taken by Facebook (FB.O) and Twitter (TWTR.N) owned by Meta Platforms Inc.

Sputnik on Wednesday said by email that “any restrictions on members of the press are blatant censorship and the dirtiest example of freedom of speech violations.”

RT said earlier this week that tech companies removing it had failed to cite any issues with its coverage.

Spotify said it would match employee donations, two-to-one, to support local humanitarian efforts.