Netflix has suspended its service in Russia, a company spokesman said. Last week, Netflix temporarily stopped all future projects and acquisitions in Russia as it assessed the impact of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Given the circumstances on the ground, we have decided to suspend our service in Russia,” the Netflix spokesman said.
Netflix had earlier said it had no plans to add state-run channels to its Russian service, despite a regulation that would require it to distribute state-backed channels.
Meanwhile, TikTok, the Chinese-owned video app, said on Sunday it would suspend live-streaming and the uploading of videos to its platform in Russia as it reviews the implications of a new media law signed on Friday by President Vladimir Putin.
“We have no choice but to suspend live-streaming and new content to our video service while we review the safety implications of this law,” the social media company said in a series of Twitter posts. It said in-app messaging would not be affected by the decision.
The US government on Saturday condemned the new law, which threatens jail terms of up to 15 years for spreading what the Kremlin describes as “fake news”.
