Spotify said on Wednesday it has closed its office in Russia indefinitely in response to what the audio streaming platform described as Moscow's "unprovoked attack on Ukraine."
Since July 2021, Russian legislation signed by President Vladimir Putin has obliged foreign social media companies with more than 500,000 daily users to 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.
Spotify said it has reviewed thousands of pieces of content since the start of the war, and has restricted the discoverability of shows owned and operated by Russian state-affiliated media.
Earlier this week, it also removed all content from state media RT and Sputnik from Spotify in the European Union and other markets, following similar steps by Meta Platforms Inc's Facebook and Twitter.
The company said it would match employee donations, two-to-one, to support local humanitarian efforts.
(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski; Editing by Leslie Adler and Marguerita Choy)
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An image of the unidentified object shot down over Canada's Yukon territory in February 2023 has been obtained by CTVNews.ca.
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Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre revealed Tuesday at a hearing on federal welfare reform that he has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
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Donald Trump flubbed the name of Charlottesville, Virginia, while going off script during a speech on Tuesday otherwise focused on economic policy, slamming U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris for lying about 'Charlottestown.'
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Steven Guilbeault accused Pierre Poilievre of catering to his 'rich friends' in the oil and gas sector by pushing a policy to scrap carbon pricing.
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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said many Canadians are taking their cost-of-living frustrations 'out on me for understandable reasons,' during his U.S. late-night television debut on 'The Late Show' with Stephen Colbert Monday night.
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Beverly Glenn-Copeland says he's been diagnosed with dementia and will play his final concert tour dates over the next two weeks.
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An image of the unidentified object shot down over Canada's Yukon territory in February 2023 has been obtained by CTVNews.ca.
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An image of the unidentified object shot down over Canada's Yukon territory in February 2023 has been obtained by CTVNews.ca.
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An image of the unidentified object shot down over Canada's Yukon territory in February 2023 has been obtained by CTVNews.ca.
We've all had neighbours we didn't like, but two people from Sault Ste. Marie have been awarded more than half a million dollars for the 'extreme' behaviour of the people who lived next to them.
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Windsor police officers are asking for the public’s help identifying and finding a suspect after a convenience store robbery in south Windsor.
A man swimming across the Detroit River from Windsor to Detroit was rescued by a mail boat, according to the J.W. Westcott Company.
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To make higher education an easier step to take for Indigenous students, the University of Lethbridge is dropping some fees for those applicants.
Authorities arrested a man from Pincher Creek after shots were fired near a home on the Blood Tribe First Nation.
A former Lethbridge pastor who bilked millions out of hundreds of southern Albertans has appealed his conviction and sentence.
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Newfoundland and Labrador sponsored a minor football team in England, now they’re about to play one of the biggest clubs in European soccer.
Newfoundland and Labrador's chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.
A 16-year-old biennial event aimed at fostering business in the country's eastern Arctic and northern regions has been cancelled indefinitely as a dispute unfolds between Inuit in Canada and a Labrador group claiming to share their heritage.
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