Corporate messenger Slack has started warning users in Russia that their accounts will be suspended in 30 days-time. This is reported by the Russian mass media, in particular The Insider, with reference to the Slack newsletter, which Russian users began to receive recently.
- Reports indicate that the decision is related to new sanctions that limit the provision of software to Russian companies. Slack sends these letters to the owners of those accounts that are “based in the Russian Federation, primarily used by users from the Russian Federation, or otherwise associated with distribution in the Russian Federation.”
- Letters are also received by those Russian companies that have purchased a license to use Slack abroad.
Which new sanctions?
The USA announced a new package of anti-Russian sanctions on June 12. Among the new restrictions is a ban on providing IT services to residents and businesses in the Russian Federation. In particular, to supply Russia with IT consulting and design services, cloud services for enterprise management, as well as project and production software.
In the first months after the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Slack began to disconnect some large Russian customers from its service. Then the restrictions affected those companies that were included in the sanctions lists.
Since 2023, Slack has removed the Russian language from its interface. Yes, system messages will no longer be translated into Russian, but users can still send and receive messages in Cyrillic.
