| Welcome back to The Technology 202! If you're attending the annual State of the Net conference this morning in downtown D.C., drop me a line: cristiano.lima@washpost.com. I'll be moderating a panel on financial technology and children's privacy. Below: Thousands of Russian tech workers oppose Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and Netflix has to start broadcasting pro-Kremlin channels starting tomorrow. First: | Social networks face pressure to ban Russian state media |  Social media platforms face mounting calls to ban Russian state-media accounts like RT. (Lionel Bonaventure/AFP/Getty Images) | | | Social media companies, including Facebook and YouTube, announced plans over the weekend to block ads from Russian state-media outlets and to limit these publications' ability to make money online in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But tech companies are facing growing pressure to block the organizations from platforms altogether, most notably the state-financed television network RT and state-owned digital and radio news agency Sputnik, which the U.S. State Department has called "critical elements in Russia's disinformation and propaganda ecosystem." The standoff marks one of the highest profile tests of how social media companies respond to government-backed misinformation and disinformation campaigns since the 2016 U.S. elections. After Russia launched its military offensive last week, a slew of public officials, advocacy groups and tech experts urged major platforms to ban Russian state-media outlets, which researchers say have been spreading baseless and false claims about the impetus for the attack for months. And the calls have grown as Russia has limited public access to social media domestically. Mykhailo Fedorov, vice prime minister of Ukraine, and Sleeping Giants, a left-leaning activist group that organizes boycotts of social media platforms and news organizations: | | So far, no major platform has followed through on banning Russian state-media outlets. Instead, they have taken a series of smaller steps aimed at limiting their ability to generate money or run paid messages online. | | Facebook parent company Meta said late Friday that it would prohibit Russian state media from running ads and "monetizing on our platform anywhere in the world." On Sunday, Meta vice president of global affairs Nick Clegg said the company had additionally "restricted access to several accounts in Ukraine," including "some" Russian state-media organizations. Twitter said Friday it was "temporarily pausing" all advertising in Ukraine and Russia. YouTube said Saturday it had "restricted access to RT and a number of other channels in Ukraine" and was pausing several channels' ability to monetize, "including several Russian channels affiliated with recent sanctions." The moves came as governments around the globe dialed up sanctions against Russia, including its state media outlets, which could create risks for companies that continue to do business with them, such as by accepting ad money. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) praised the companies' initial actions Saturday. | | It's unclear how significant cutting off Russian state-media's access to digital advertising and monetization tools may be, however. RT's main page hasn't run any ads on political or social issues on Meta's platforms since 2018, and its Spanish-language page, which has over 18 million followers, has run only five in as many years, according to a review by The Technology 202 of Meta's online ads library. Sputnik and RIA Novosti, two other major Russian state-media organizations, haven't run any such ads since 2017, and another, Ruptly, has run only three in that time, according to the review. The database doesn't keep a record of all inactive ads in its library, meaning that some may have escaped our count. The apparent scarcity of political and issue ads suggests that prohibiting Russian state-media outlets from running them may be largely symbolic. YouTube spokesperson Farshad Shadloo declined to say how much money RT has made from advertising on the platform, adding the company doesn't "disclose revenue for any channel." | | Meanwhile, the reach of Russian state-media outlets' regular posts remains massive. RT currently has 7.3 million followers on Facebook, 4.6 million subscribers on YouTube, 2.9 million followers on Twitter, 830,000 followers on Instagram and roughly 280,000 on Telegram. The outlet also has smaller followings on TikTok, with about 88,000 followers, and on YouTube-rival Rumble, with roughly 9,000 subscribers. Other prominent platforms, such as TikTok, have yet to announce any such steps to limit Russian state media. TikTok has continued showing videos from RT into Sunday morning, even to American users who hadn't specifically asked for content from the Russian state-controlled outlet, Jeremy Merrill reports for The Technology 202. A Post TikTok account was shown one such video, posted Saturday afternoon in Eastern Europe, purporting to depict the "voluntary" surrender of Ukrainian soldiers. The Post did not verify the video, which the TikTok app said had been shown almost 4.5 million times. Spokespeople for TikTok did not return a request for comment on the video or on its policies regarding Russian state-media outlets. Telegram and Rumble did not return requests for comment on their policies regarding the outlets. With the military conflict in Ukraine showing no imminent signs of letting up, and with global sanctions still gaining steam, tech companies are likely to continue to be put on the defensive about whether they are doing enough to curb Russia-backed disinformation. | | |  | Our top tabs | | More than 20,000 Russian tech workers sign petition opposing Ukraine invasion |  The petition came amid protests in Russia and worldwide against the invasion. (Denis Kaminev/AP) | | | The petition is the latest example of opposition in Russia to President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, Gerrit De Vynck reports. The signatories include workers at Russia's most prominent tech companies, like social media giant VK and cybersecurity giant Kaspersky Lab. "We, employees of the Russian IT industry, are categorically against military operations on the territory of Ukraine initiated by the armed forces of the Russian Federation," the petition says. "We consider any display of force that leads to the outbreak of war unjustified and call for the reversal of decisions that could inevitably entail human casualties on each side. Our countries have always been close to each other. And today we are worried about our Ukrainian colleagues, friends and relatives." | Netflix may have to broadcast pro-Kremlin channels beginning this week |  The outlets Netflix has to add include Channel One, which has Kremlin ties. (Gabby Jones/Bloomberg News) | | | The streaming company will be required to add 20 Russian channels to its Russian service on March 1, Politico Europe's Samuel Stolton reports. It comes months after Netflix was added to the country's communications regulator's list of streaming services available in the country with at least 100,000 daily users. The stations that Netflix will be required to provide include Channel One and the Russian Orthodox Church's Spas channel. "Russia's Channel One in particular is closely linked to the Kremlin, with a miscellany of some of Putin's most intimate political allies on the board of the station set to be broadcast across Netflix screens," Stolton writes. "This includes the likes of Putin's top spy Chief Sergey Naryshkin and Alexey Gromov, Putin's first deputy chief of staff." Netflix did not respond to Politico's request for comment on whether it would comply with the rules. | Ericsson, a Swedish Huawei alternative, faces new corruption allegations |  The company is a chief rival to Huawei in the 5G race. (Lluis Gene/AFP/Getty Images) | | | An internal report from the company documents "bribes and kickbacks," "fraud and embezzlement," and disturbing details about the company's decisions to send workers into areas in Iraq controlled by the Islamic State, Greg Miller and Louisa Loveluck report. "The report describes extensive management failures at a firm that Western governments see as a crucial alternative to the Chinese company Huawei, whose devices have been banned by the United States and other countries over suspicions that they are rigged for espionage," they write. "Ericsson and Nokia, based in neighboring Finland, are Huawei's main rivals in the global race to build next-generation, or '5G' wireless networks." The U.S. government has said that Huawei could assist China's government in gathering intelligence on its users, which Huawei denies. On Feb. 15, after receiving questions from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, The Post and other media partners, Ericsson issued a news release acknowledging "serious breaches of compliance rules" and circumvention of Iraqi customs authorities using routes controlled by "terrorist organizations, including ISIS." The company also said it was "committed to conducting business in a responsible manner, applying ethical standards in anti-corruption, humanitarian and human rights terms." Ericsson chief executive Borje Ekholm has said that the company's settlement agreement with U.S. authorities "limits our ability to comment." | | |  | Rant and rave | | | European Commissioner Thierry Breton wants tech platforms to take similarly unprecedented steps for Russian "war propaganda" that they took in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection. | | European Commissioner Věra Jourová: | | MEP Eva Maydell called for a summit and disinformation war room to be set up: | | |  | Inside the industry | | | |  | Trending | | | |  | Daybook | | - Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Tex.), Sen. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and U.S. Chief Data Scientist Denice Ross speak at the State of the Net conference today.
- Former president Donald Trump's national security adviser, Robert O'Brien, speaks at a Heritage Foundation event on U.S. tech competition with China today at 11 a.m.
- The House Small Business Committee holds a hearing on small businesses and antitrust on Tuesday at 10 a.m.
- The House Energy and Commerce Committee holds a hearing on legislation targeting Big Tech on Tuesday at 10:30 a.m.
- Acting White House Office of Science and Technology Policy director Alondra Nelson and others speak at the Social Science Research Council's launch of its Just Tech platform on Tuesday at 1 p.m.
- The Senate Commerce Committee is set to vote on President Biden's nominations of Gigi Sohn and Alvaro Bedoya as FCC and FTC commissioners on Thursday at 10 a.m.
| | |  | Before you log off | | | That's all for today — thank you so much for joining us! Make sure to tell others to subscribe to The Technology 202 here. Get in touch with tips, feedback or greetings on Twitter or email. | |
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