Snapchat is reducing its features and advertising breadth in support of Ukraine.
The company posted a press release on March 1 writing “War is a scourge on our collective humanity, and in this case, it is a direct threat to many of our team members and their families.”
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Snapchat has suspended the “heatmap” feature within the borders of Ukraine.
The heatmap tool is used to show users the volume of snaps being sent from one location.
With thousands of Ukrainian citizens and troops relocating, evacuating and mobilizing, the heatmap poses an unnecessary risk by displaying their location.
That’s why Snapchat has made the decision to shut it off.
Reporting by The Verge notes that many other real-time population mapping tools have been suspended.
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These include Google Maps’ and Apple Maps’ live traffic projections.
Snapchat has ceased advertising in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine while Russian and Belarusian companies are not eligible to purchase advertising space on Snapchat.
The press release emphatically states that Snapchat “[does] not accept revenue from Russian state-owned entities.”
Snapchat’s stock value has dropped dramatically over the last year.
Stiff competition from TikTok and Apple’s new privacy rules have clogged up the works for Evan Spiegel’s social media giant.
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In other news, the mystery surrounding why prehistoric Brits built Stonehenge has finally been solved after research confirmed that the monument served as an ancient solar calendar.
In other news, the iPhone’s virtual assistant, Siri, is getting a new, “gender-neutral” voice.
A British woman has told of her horror after scammers used photos of a “silver fox” politician to trick her out of £80,000.
And, Norfolk County Council is suing Apple over what it says was misleading information about iPhone sales.
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