Canva stopped accepting payments from Russia on March 1, shortly after the invasion of Ukraine. At the same time, the free service continued to operate in Russia, although it was designed in a template with anti-war design and a call for support to Ukraine. In addition, the Canva Foundation donated $1 million to war victims.

The decision was later reconsidered, and co-founder Cliff Obrecht said Wednesday that the company will block access to Russia indefinitely. It is worth noting that this decision of the company will stop 1.4 million users from accessing the service.

Canva’s director of operations said that while the company was previously proud of its role in raising awareness about the conflict, the situation has changed.

Although there was room for votes and protests in the early stages of the war, the Russian government has now shut down the vast majority of communication channels, depriving people of the opportunity to agree.
Obrecht said on his blog.

As it will be remembered, at the beginning of March, the Russian parliament passed a brutal law that provides for up to 15 years in prison for those who spread “false information” about the war in Ukraine. This also applies to those who refer to anti-war statements.

Company inspired by Ukrainian activists

It’s worth noting that Canva has not come to such a decision. The companies were helped by Ukrainian activists, who disagreed with the service’s initial argument and called the statement “strangely implausible”. A protest was held outside Canva’s headquarters in Sydney. This caused the company to change its position.

Yuri Levitsky, a senior Australian-Ukrainian technologist who advocated Canva’s exit from Russia, said he congratulated the company and its co-founders Cliff Obrecht and Melanie Perkins for their “noble decisions”.

Any company doing business in Russia, financial or not, is contributing to Russia’s unjust war with its peaceful neighbor.
said Levitsky.

Meanwhile, Canva also announced that it will not refund customers in Russia who have already paid for the service. This decision is partly due to the sanctions imposed on Russian banks, which make such transactions impossible for the company.