Parent company Salesforce has pledged to stop selling to customers in Russia because of the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Credit: Slack / Scott Webb Slack has suspended access to accounts for customers based in Russia, citing compliance with policies set out by its parent company, Salesforce. Several Russia-based customers have been locked out of their Slack accounts, Axios reported Tuesday, preventing them from downloading data from the popular collaboration app. The data in suspended accounts is not deleted, and access will be restored if and when sanctions are lifted and Slack’s corporate policy changes. “Slack is required to take action to comply with sanctions regulations in the US and other countries where we operate, including in some circumstances suspending accounts without prior notice, as mandated by law,” Slack said in a statement to Computerworld. “We are in contact with affected customers regarding the impact of these actions on their account status, where permitted by law. Slack has a very small number of additional Russia-based customers, and like Salesforce, we are exiting those relationships.” Slack declined to say how many customers have been affected by the decision. Slack is used by millions of individuals worldwide, and said it had 169,000 paying customers as of 2021. The company was acquired by US business software vendor Salesforce in a deal that closed last year for $27.7 billion. Salesforce is one of several tech companies that have announced they would stop sales to Russia-based customers after the invasion of Ukraine last month. “We do not have a material business in Russia,” Salesforce said in a statement March 7. “Through resellers and other channels, we have a very small number of Russia-based customers, and we began exiting those relationships last week.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called on several large software vendors to end support for Russia-based customers in a message on Twitter Sunday. Technology spending in Russian and Ukraine is likely to see a marked drop due to sanctions and disruption caused by the ongoing conflict, according to research firm IDC. “The conflict has halted business operations in Ukraine while the Russian economy is feeling the early impact of Western sanctions,” according to a March 7 report. “This will strongly affect tech spending in both countries with double-digit contraction of local market demand expected in 2022. Related content news Businesses lack AI strategy despite employee interest — Microsoft survey Microsoft’s fourth annual Work Trend Index survey shows that workers are coming to grips with generative AI tools, but leaders aren’t convinced they have a proper deployment strategy in place. By Matthew Finnegan May 08, 2024 6 mins Microsoft Generative AI IT Skills news analysis Apple Silicon sets scene for a new AI ecosystem With its new iPads, Apple presses home the message that Apple Silicon is built for AI. By Jonny Evans May 08, 2024 12 mins Apple Generative AI iPad news The CHIPS Act money: A timeline of grants to chipmakers The Department of Commerce is divvying up $52 billion in the hopes of spurring on-shore chip manufacturing in the US. Here's what's been allocated and where the money is going. By Lucas Mearian May 08, 2024 5 mins CPUs and Processors Government Manufacturing Industry reviews Arc browser for Windows — better than Chrome? This might just be the best web browser for power users. But you’ll have to rewire your brain. By Chris Hoffman May 08, 2024 13 mins Windows Browsers Productivity Software Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe