Apple stops all product sales in Russia and restricts state media apps

Apple on Tuesday stopped selling all its products online and in person in Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine.

The tech giant said that it was "deeply concerned" about the Russian attack on Ukraine, pausing all product sales and limiting access to digital services, such as Apple Pay, and Russian state media apps.

"Last week, we stopped all exports into our sales channel in the country. Apple Pay and other services have been limited. RT News and Sputnik News are no longer available for download from the App Store outside Russia," Apple said in a statement. "And we have disabled both traffic and live incidents in Apple Maps in Ukraine as a safety and precautionary measure for Ukrainian citizens."

Additionally, Apple CEO Tim Cook sent a letter to employees on Tuesday providing information on how Apple employees can donate to Ukraine, with Apple matching all donations at a 2-to-1 rate for eligible organizations.

Under pressure from their users and government officials, Facebook, Google, YouTube, and Twitter have all announced efforts to block Russian state media from running ads and monetizing content on their platforms and are trying to reduce the spread of Russian disinformation about what is happening in Ukraine. Some of the platforms have even restricted access to Russian government accounts altogether.

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On the other hand, the Russian government has partially restricted local access to some social media giants, such as Facebook and Twitter, as protesters have used the platforms to organize and voice opposition to the war.