Rakuten Group Inc. said it is removing advertising from its Viber messaging service in Ukraine and Russia in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, but said it won't block the service in Russia as requested by Kyiv.
The move is to "ensure that no-one will profit from activity on our app at this time" Rakuten said in a statement dated Sunday, adding that it has made "Viber Out" calls to landlines and mobile phones in 34 countries free for users in the region.
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