The protest against Russia and its war in Ukraine is spreading. Now it has hit the Russian streamers:inside.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has caused many companies to stop doing business in the largest state on Earth by area. PayPal and Twitch are now joining the international boycott, causing financial hardship for Russian streamers.
PayPal ceases operations
Online payment service PayPal announced on Friday 5 March that it would cease operations in Russia. The US company took this step due to the Russian attack on Ukraine and to send a signal. The aim is to block foreign remittances to Russia and thus isolate the country from international payments.
We received a letter from @Dan_Schulman, CEO PayPal. So now it’s official: PayPal shuts down its services in Russia citing Ukraine aggression. Thank you @PayPal for your support! Hope that soon you will open it in for 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/RaJxEMSLQe
– Mykhailo Fedorov (@FedorovMykhailo) March 5, 2022
Twitch no longer pays
The streaming service Twitch has also put its business relationship with Russian streamers on hold for the time being, putting them in a financial bind. When streamers can no longer receive money from their followers via PayPal and Twitch refuses to cooperate with them, many lose their only source of income.
So PayPal has stopped working in Russia today and Twitch will no longer pay Russian streamers. Thank you very much for cutting my only source of income. I am sure this will solve all of the world’s problems.
– Lina 💙💛 (@Commander_Ivy) March 5, 2022
A 2019 study found that around 61% of Russian streamers monetise their content. 96% of them rely on donations to support their income. In addition, 15% of them also use Twitch’s subscription system, while 6% swear by another payment system.
