As war rages on in Ukraine, something that is different is the role technology plays.  If the Gulf War in 1991 was the Cable News war, this is the war when misinformation and cyberattacks have gone global.

So today a special post with an incomplete look at some of the technology stories around the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Twitter

Twitter has paused ads and it’s recommendations and trending sections in Ukraine and Russia

https://www.engadget.com/twitter-is-pausing-ads-and-recommendations-in-ukraine-and-russia-004617413.html?src=rss

The company has also labelled all tweets from Russian State owned accounts

https://www.engadget.com/twitter-is-labeling-tweets-from-russian-state-media-outlets-175740062.html?src=rss

Facebook

Facebook is also combating misinformation, removing what it calls a Russian misinformation network

https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/28/22954451/facebook-twitter-remove-misinformation-network-russian-propaganda-ukraine-invasion

Google

Google has taken unspecified steps to further secure user accounts in Ukraine, as well as taking its own steps to combat misinformation across Google’s ecosystem

https://www.androidcentral.com/google-response-ukraine-invasion

Google has also disabled it’s live traffic tracking in Google maps in Ukraine to remove one avenue of tracking people’s movements.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/28/22954426/google-disables-maps-traffic-data-in-ukraine-to-protect-citizens

YouTube

Google’s YouTube has disabled advertising on Russian state media accounts and is restricting access to those accounts in Ukraine

https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/26/22952439/youtube-bans-ads-rt-russia-channels-google-ukraine

Here in Canada, Bell, Rogers, Telus and Shaw have removed Russia’s state TV network RT, from their channel lineups

https://mobilesyrup.com/2022/02/28/bell-rogers-telus-and-shaw-remove-russian-network-rt-from-channel-lineups/

This is an incomplete sample, and doesn’t include what effect sanctions that NATO and other Western nations have leveled against Russia, and their eventual impact on the technology space.

Also worth mentioning is the space agency.  Russia has pulled out of co-operation from the French Guiana space port where a modified version of its Soyuz Rocket launches some European built payloads.  That will have a medium term impact on the European Space Agency’s ability to get payloads into space.

Russia is also a partner in the International Space Station, with two cosmonauts serving on the station along with three Americans, and astronauts from France and Japan.  NASA and Roscosmos are continuing to operate the station as normal, as without co-operation of the two agencies it would likely mean the station would need to be abandoned.