The invasion of Ukraine is devastating. We are horrified and saddened by its immediate impact, with thousands of people killed and millions more displaced. We stand behind Ukraine in condemning this unprovoked and unjustified attack, and we are in awe at the extraordinary spirit of our employees based in impacted regions and of all the people of Ukraine.
At Vimeo, we believe in the power of video to spread truth in a way that no other medium can. This power becomes especially important during times of global crisis, when the risks of misinformation and propaganda become even more dangerous. Historically we do not have a practice of suspending support for users based on geopolitical events. However, several recent actions have occurred— including Russia’s new ‘fake news’ law that could penalize our users with up to 15 years in prison for publishing content — that have made it untenable for Vimeo to continue operating our service as we have been.
As a result of these actions, we are suspending our support for new customers in Russia and announcing updated content guidelines to be more explicit in what we define as misinformation and propaganda on our platform. Our aim is to balance freedom of expression with our responsibility to protect our community from content that has the potential to be dangerous or incite harm.
Beginning today:
We will continue to stand by our Ukrainian team and users and find ways to support impacted communities, whether providing relocation programs and financial assistance for our employees, matching employee donations for nonprofits who are on the ground, using our platform to amplify the voices of Ukrainians who are experiencing firsthand the catastrophic impact of war, and educating those who are denied accurate reports of the current crisis.
We hope and pray for a peaceful resolution soon.
