Patreon will continue to work in Russia and blocked the Return Alive Foundation page in Ukraine
After Russia’s treacherous attack on Ukraine, many Western governments and companies imposed sanctions on the aggressor country and ceased operations there. But Patreon CEO Jack Conte took a different path. He decided to continue working in Russia, continuing to provide financial support to the aggressor.
Conte has said he does not want to punish content creators for political decisions where they do not have the right to vote.
“I do not think that individual authors should pay for the guilt of their authoritarian leader. I don’t want to translate this into creative people,” – Conte said. “They may not agree with the war, and I do not want to punish them for their geographical location.”
It should be noted that Jack Conte’s position is highly selective. Now he refuses to stop working in Russia so as not to punish creative people. But on the second day of the war, the Patreon service blocked the page of the Ukrainian charity fund “Come Back Alive”.
Conte acknowledged that his decision to continue working in Russia may be symbolic rather than practical. Most American banks and financial companies have stopped providing services in Russia, so many authors are still affected by the restrictions.
Given this position of the management of the Patreon service, some Ukrainian bloggers and content authors began to move to a competitive platform Buy Me a Coffee.
