Ukrainians working at Western tech companies are banding together to take down disinformation sites, turn Russians against their government and speed up the delivery of medical supplies.
They are seeking to persuade companies like Internet security firm Cloudflare, Alphabet’s Google, and Amazon to do more to fight the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The president of software maker CloudLinux, Igor Seletskiy, has urged Cloudflare to abandon Russian news sites. Cloudflare has let go of some customers because of sanctions and has begun reviewing accounts flagged in Seletskiy’s email, adding that he is acting cautiously because cutting ties would jeopardize customer safety.
At Google, employees, including hundreds of Ukrainian descent, have sent a letter to Chief Executive Sundar Pichai urging the giant to provide more aid to Ukraine and modify services such as maps and advertising tools.
Google declined to comment. In recent days, the company has banned Russian state media from advertising tools and has increased security measures for users in Ukraine.
Silicon Valley-based aid group Nova Ukraine has asked Amazon to donate work time and provide crucial supplies on its cargo planes and vehicles heading to neighboring countries such as Poland.
“They have the scale that no one else has,” said Igor Markov, director of New Ukraine and a technology research scientist.
Amazon declined to comment. The company this week said it would donate up to $10 million to organizations providing support in Ukraine.
I have over 8 years of experience in the news industry. I have worked for various news websites and have also written for a few news agencies. I mostly cover healthcare news, but I am also interested in other topics such as politics, business, and entertainment. In my free time, I enjoy writing fiction and spending time with my family and friends.
