Alphabet’s Google confirmed on Sunday it has quickly disabled for Ukraine some Google Maps instruments which offer stay details about visitors circumstances and the way busy completely different locations are.

The firm mentioned it had taken the motion of worldwide disabling the Google Maps visitors layer and stay data on how busy locations like shops and eating places are in Ukraine for the security of native communities within the nation, after consulting with sources together with regional authorities.

Ukraine is going through assaults from Russian forces who invaded the nation on Thursday. As missiles fell on Ukrainian cities, almost 400,000 civilians, primarily girls and kids, have fled into neighbouring nations.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation”.

Big tech corporations together with Google have mentioned they’re taking new measures to guard customers’ safety within the area.

Online companies and social media websites have additionally been tapped by researchers piecing collectively exercise across the conflict.

A professor at California’s Middlebury Institute of International Studies mentioned Google Maps helped him monitor a “traffic jam” that was really Russian motion in the direction of the border hours earlier than Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced the assault.

Google mentioned stay visitors data remained obtainable to drivers utilizing its turn-by-turn navigation options within the space.

© Thomson Reuters 2022