(New York) The American online video platform Netflix has suspended its service in Russia, several American media reported on Sunday, in protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Posted at 4:28 p.m.
The video-on-demand giant had already interrupted, earlier this week, its acquisitions in Russia as well as its productions of original programs.
“Given the circumstances on the ground, we have decided to suspend our service in Russia,” a spokesperson told the American magazine Variety.
Asked by AFP, Netflix did not respond immediately.
The world’s online video leader, with 221.8 million paying subscribers at the end of 2021, Netflix is a minor player in Russia, where it has less than a million subscribers, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The group does not publish figures for the Russian market alone and did not respond to a request from AFP on the number of its subscribers in Russia.
Netflix joins the many foreign companies that have announced the suspension of their activities or their outright withdrawal from Russia since the launch of a Russian offensive in Ukraine.
On Monday, Netflix told the Vulture site that it did not intend to comply with Russian law which requires streaming platforms to offer several free channels, some of which are considered vectors of government propaganda.
The subscription online video service was, in theory, to broadcast these channels from the beginning of March.