Google Maps adds refugee resources for Ukrainian asylum seekers

A demonstration against the Russian invasion of Ukraine in Brussels, Belgium, on February 26.
Omar Havana/Getty Images
Google Maps has added an SOS alert on searching across Ukraine, as well as temporarily disable some live Google Maps characteristics following The invasion of Russia. The SOS alert will direct people seeking evacuation information to UN resources for refugees and asylum seekers, Google said in a blog post on Tuesday.
“The Russian invasion of Ukraine is both a tragedy and a humanitarian disaster in the making,” Google said. “We are working with expert organizations to get useful humanitarian information as the situation evolves.”
Read more: Around 660,000 refugees have fled Ukraine. Here’s how to help
Google is also focusing its security teams on blocking suspicious activity related to the invasion and strengthening its Google Account security protections, particularly for authentication, in the region.
“Our Threat Analysis Group (TAG) has seen threat actors refocus their efforts on Ukrainian targets,” Google said. “We saw the attackers behind the GhostWriter threat group targeting Ukrainian government and military officials. We have blocked these attempts and have not seen any compromise of Google Accounts as a result of this campaign.”
Google said its Project Shield protects more than 100 Ukrainian websites, including local news services.
On preventing the spread of false information online, Google blocked Russian state-controlled media RT and Sputnik outlets on YouTube across Europe. It also limits recommendations globally for Russian state-funded media, with YouTube removing thousands of videos for violating community guidelines in the past few days.
Google Pay “may become unavailable”
As Search, Maps and YouTube remain available in Russia, Google Pay “may become unavailable in some countries”, Google added. “We are committed to meeting all sanction requirements and we continue to monitor the latest guidance.”
Google and its employees are also contributing $15 million in donations and support for relief efforts in Ukraine, as well as $5 million in advertising credits for humanitarian and intergovernmental organizations.
Read more: Russia invades Ukraine: latest updates as Ukrainian president pleads to join EU