Netflix pauses streaming in Russia indefinitely
Netflix is the latest giant to take a stand in the Russia-Ukraine crisis, as the company announced last night that it is cutting off all of its streaming services to Russia. This is certainly no small decision, as Russia makes up nearly one million of Netflix' massive 222,000,000 user base (via DigitalTrends).
Тhe decision was made public on Sunday, March 6, when the company announced that "Given the circumstances on the ground, we have decided to suspend our service in Russia." While Netflix is still allowing current Russia-based subscribers to enjoy the streaming services until the end of their billing cycle, starting March 7, nobody will be able to sign up for a new membership within the country.
This isn't the first move Netflix has taken to make its position in the ongoing crisis clear. When Russia first began to invade Ukraine, Netflix immediately put a stop to all four of the Russian-language series it had been working on—all of them significant investments that had already reached mid- or post-production.
One of them was the much-anticipated first-ever Russian Netflix original series, a neo-noir drama and mystery series called "ZATO." After dropping all production work on ZATO, Netflix said it doesn't plan to create any new Russian content indefinitely.
Netflix is also far from the only company in the Big Tech that took such a drastic step against Russia in the current crisis. Other companies that have taken measures to sanction Russia in favor of war-torn Ukraine include Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Google, TikTok, Intel, and AMD—and others are sure to follow suit.
Plenty of streaming companies have joined in the fray alongside these tech giants as well; Disney, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros, and Sony have all put new film releases in Russia on hold for an undetermined period of time.
It is still unclear how Netflix's decision to boycott Russia will impact its stock prices. Last month, the company reported a massive drop in Netflix' stock value, to the disappointment of investors, despite recent U.S. price hikes and new original releases.
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