Slack reportedly shuts down its services in Russia

Popular team communication platform Slack will reportedly shut down its services in Russia by the end of July due to recent US sanctions.

Over the weekend, local media reported that Russians received messages from Slack warning them that the company, “in accordance with current legislation,” must block all accounts “based in Russia, used primarily by Russians, or associated with Russia.”

The move follows “sanctions and export control laws of the United States, the European Union and other applicable jurisdictions, including restrictions on the provision of software and services to Russia,” said the message shared by Russian Slack users.

Last week, the US imposed new sanctions on Russia aimed at “limiting the ability of the Russian military-industrial base to benefit from certain US software and IT services.”

The sanctions prohibit the provision of IT consulting and design services, technical support services, and cloud-based services for enterprise management software, and U.S.-branded design and manufacturing software to persons in Russia.

Slack did not respond to Recorded Future News’ request for comment.

The company blocked the accounts of sanctioned companies and individuals with Russia-ties in the first months after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russian media reported that Slack’s blocking at the time affected major Russian companies, including the country’s state-owned bank, Sberbank.

“Users in embargoed regions may be able to regain full access to their accounts and data after leaving the embargoed regions,” Slack said in a statement.

This time, the suspension is likely to affect non-sanctioned companies and ordinary users. According to Pavel Potekhin, the owner of MTS Link, a Russian company that provides business communication services, even companies that purchased a Slack license abroad were warned about the impending suspension.

When the war in Ukraine broke out two years ago, many Western technology companies announced that they would withdraw from the Russian market or stop selling their products there – either for moral reasons or because of the economic sanctions imposed on Russia by the EU or the US.

Companies that recently announced the discontinuation of their services include Microsoft, Czech antivirus developer Avast and developer platform Docker Hub.

In response, Russia is trying to switch to domestic technology alternatives. For example, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree last week banning government agencies, state-owned companies and critical information infrastructure facilities from using cyber defense systems from “unfriendly countries.”

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