There will be a before and an after Russian war in Ukraine for multinationals.
Before this conflict, companies had always taken refuge behind the sacrosanct principle of neutrality in order not to speak out in the conduct of world affairs, often to the chagrin of some of their client base.
The arrival and the rise of social networks had not managed to change this principle of neutrality which was often accompanied by platitudes.
We have to believe that the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by Russia has changed things and it is difficult to see today how to go back.
The first to blow up the levee was Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla (TSLA), SpaceX, Neuralink and The Boring Company. The billionaire in the early days of this dispute, which began on Feb. 24, made known his support for Ukraine, to which he sent terminals of SpaceX's satellite internet service Starlink to maintain Ukrainian access to internet as Russia destroyed and attacked the country's communications infrastructure.
Tech Tycoons Don't Want to Be Silent Anymore
Musk also sent clear words of support to Ukrainians. The entrepreneur even went so far as to propose a duel with Russian President Vladimir Putin to put an end to this Russian war.
Musk was followed by Jack Dorsey, the founder and ex-boss of Twitter (TWTR), who donated millions of dollars to nonprofits helping the Ukrainian people.
And then there was billionaire Bill Gates.
Tech tycoons, whose products and services touch hundreds of millions of people around the world, no longer want to remain quiet.
Microsoft (MSFT), the software giant, has just proved it again.
"Our support for Ukraine is steadfast," Brad Smith, president and vice chair of the company co-founded by Gates, wrote Wednesday on Twitter. "We’ve increased our humanitarian aid, continue to detect and defend against cyber threats, provide disaster response, and connect millions through free Skype service."
CEO Satya Nadella retweeted the post, a clear way of saying where his sympathies lay for those who might wonder why he wasn't the one who wrote the post.
Beyond words, Microsoft has taken a panoply of anti-Russian actions to align words with deeds.
Microsoft has now committed over $35 million to support humanitarian assistance and relief efforts for Ukraine. This includes more than $18 million worth of Microsoft technology to help organizations such as the Polish Humanitarian Action respond to critical needs and others providing services on the ground, the company said.
Microsoft has also completed 67 projects in less than four weeks to assist groups that are in or helping Ukraine. The firm said it has received over 130 mission requests from government, nonprofit, and commercial organizations assisting those in need and will continue to work through additional requests.
Counter Cyberattacks
Skype, its communication app, has extended its free calling into and out of Ukraine by another two weeks to help Ukrainians stay in touch with the world.
In addition, Microsoft is matching employee donations to Ukraine by 2:1, resulting in more than $13.5 million raised to date in support of organizations working both within Ukraine and supporting refugees who have fled to neighboring countries, the company said. These funds are provided to key NGOs with the mission of helping Ukrainians.
"We are continuing with the suspension of all new sales of products and services in Russia," the company said in a blog post.
As cyberattacks escalate and President Biden has warned companies to prepare for attacks from Russian hackers, Microsoft is deploying its resources to help entities that are seen as prime targets.
"We’ve recently applied our capability (...) to identify cybersecurity vulnerabilities in Ukrainian government systems," the software giant announced. "As a result, we provided a list of exposed and vulnerable systems to the Ukrainian government that had unpatched high-impact common vulnerabilities and exposures that could provide a foothold for attackers."
Microsoft has also "deployed cybersecurity technical protections to dozens of targeted organizations in concert with the Ukraine government as well as providing licenses and services that allow organizations in Ukraine the ability to operate by moving critical software services from on-premises servers to the cloud."
Microsoft's announcements and support for Ukraine coincide with a new stage in the Biden administration's pressure on Russia.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that Russian forces have officially committed war crimes during the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
"Today, I can announce that, based on information currently available, the U.S. government assesses that members of Russia's forces have committed war crimes in Ukraine," Blinken said.
