American Express, Netflix, TikTok Join Growing List of Companies Suspending Business Operations in Russia

Sarah RumpfMar 6th, 2022, 4:57 pm
 

American Express, Netflix, and TikTok have joined a long and comprehensive list of companies who have suspended their business operations in Russia in response to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

On Saturday, Visa and Mastercard had announced they were shutting down all transactions and other services in Russia, several days after they blocked Russian banks from being able to access their networks.

American Express followed suit on Sunday, reported CNN, ending their operations in both Russia and puppet state Belarus.

The company issued a statement announcing that AmEx cards issued in Russia would no longer work outside the country and internationally-issued cards would no longer work in Russia.

“This is in addition to the previous steps we have taken, which include halting our relationships with banks in Russia impacted by the US and international government sanctions,” the statement added.

CNN Newsroom anchor Fredricka Whitfield reported on the latest development, commenting that this meant that within Russia it had been difficult to get cash from the bank and it was increasingly impossible to pay with plastic.

This was a “use of financial networks in a weaponized way to really put more and more financial pressure” on Russia, said CNN global economic analyst Rana Foroohar.

Netflix, Inc. also announced on Sunday that it was pulling out of Russia, according to a report by Bloomberg. Netflix has shut down their streaming service, is not allowing any new Russian customers to sign up, and was pausing all projects in Russia, including several original programs currently in production.

“Given the circumstances on the ground, we have decided to suspend our service in Russia,” said a spokesperson for Netflix.

Netflix had been operating in a joint venture with Russia’s National Media Group since 2016 and had roughly one million subscribers. The streaming giant had recently refused to air multiple Russian propaganda channels that were mandated by Russian law.

TikTok pulled the plug on their popular video social media app on Sunday as well. “In light of Russia’s new ‘fake news’ law, we have no choice but to suspend livestreaming and new content to our video service while we review the safety implications of this law,” the company posted on their official comms department Twitter account. “We will continue to evaluate the evolving circumstances in Russia to determine when we might fully resume our services with safety as our top priority.”

Watch the video above, via CNN.

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Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.