Google suspends Play Store from Russia because of ‘payment system disruption’

Free apps on the Play Store will remain available, but Google Pay will not

(Getty Images)

Google has stopped Russian customers from receiving access to paid services on the Play Store and YouTube.

Developers received emails stating that the billing system will be paused – forbiting users from buying apps and games, paying subscriptions, or using in-app purchases. This also stops Russian people from using the contactless Google Pay service.

Free apps on the Play Store, however, will remain available.

Google says this issue is because of a “payment system disruption”, which likely refers to the economic sanctions placed on the country by the United States.

The search giant’s subsidiary, YouTube, is also pausing its “monetization features, including YouTube Premium, Channel Memberships, Super Chat and Merchandise, for viewers in Russia."

Channels in Russia will be able to generate revenue from viewers outside the country using services like Super Chat, ads, and other paid features, according to Reuters.

Techcrunch reports that the suspension came into effect yesterday at 9pm GMT.

YouTube had previously taken steps against Russia with the suspension of Russia Today and Sputnik in Europe.

Visitors to the channel saw a message reading: “This channel is not available in your country”; this came after European leaders banned the channel from broadcast and satellite television.

Facebook owner Meta has also restricted access to the pages of the media companies across the EU.

As well as Google, numerous other technology companies have taken action against Russia. TikTok suspended live streaming and posting “in light of Russia’s new ‘fake news’ law”, and Netflix also removed itself from the country.

Twitter, which has been banned in Russia, launched a version on the dark web to avoid censorship.

For everyday citizens, downloads of VPNs that would allow them to access information outside of Russia has increased by over 1,000 per cent. Reports state that downloads for the top VPN software in Russia increased dramatically – from an average of 16,000 per day to over 700,000 daily downloads.