Donetsk and Luhansk — two cities in Ukraine now under Russian control — have blocked access to Google Search, following the lead of the Putin-led administration.

In an announcement on Friday, the cities announced a blockage on the search engine in the Eastern region of Ukraine. According to the statement, Google was promoting terrorism and violence against Russians.

The region pronounced itself a republic with Denis Pushilin as its head in 2018, four years after it first broke away from Ukraine.

Also read:
– Google-backed Android lockscreen startup, Glance, set to launch in the US in September
– Physicists discover new phase of matter in Quantum Computing advancement study
– TikTok is bringing longer videos despite shorter videos working like magic.

“The inhuman propaganda of Ukraine and the West has long crossed all boundaries,” Pushilin said. “There is a real persecution of Russians, the imposition of lies and disinformation. At the forefront of information technology in this regard is the Google search engine.”

Per terms of its reinstatement, he said that the search company only had to stop ‘pursuing its criminal policy’ and return to its mainstream of law. 

Moves against tech companies are nothing new in the Russian-Ukraine conflict, as the companies themselves have been applying restrictive sanctions on the country. However, even Russia has not outrightly banned Google Search. The most it has done is issue fines against YouTube, making it financially impossible for it to operate at full strength.

Google is yet to issue a comment on the recent development.

For your daily dose of tech, lifestyle, and trending content, make sure to follow Plat4om on Twitter @Plat4omLive, on Instagram @Plat4om, on LinkedIn at Plat4om, and on Facebook at Plat4om. You can also email us at info@techtalkwithtdafrica.com and join our channel on Telegram at Plat4om. Finally, don’t forget to subscribe to OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL.