From offering refugees their spare rooms to donating cryptocurrency, people around the world have been using technology to channel help to Ukrainians since Russia launched its military assault last week.
Some tech companies have helped start fundraising campaigns or taken steps targeting Russian state media following the invasion, which the UN refugee agency said had forced more than half a million people to flee Ukraine.
Here are five ways people and companies are using tech to help Ukrainians:
SPARE ROOMS AND FREE DOCTORS
A Russian man has set up a Web site to help Ukrainians find shelter in Georgia — connecting those fleeing with homeowners willing to accommodate them, doctors providing free consultations and others offering in-kind assistance.
Founder Stanislav Sabanov, a 37-year-old who normally runs a relocation service for expats, said hundreds of people have reached out since the invasion.
“We all have one thing in common — we are against war and wanted to help people who found themselves in a difficult situation,” Sabanov said, referring to the team of volunteers helping him sift through the requests.
In Poland, tens of thousands of people have signed up for social media groups, including “Ukraine, I’m helping you!” and “Host a Sister” offering their homes, money and carpools to Ukrainians seeking refuge in the neighboring country.
In the city of Poznan, a 700-member group called “Kejterski Patrol” offered help to people fleeing with their dogs by temporarily housing and walking the animals.
CRYPTO FUNDS
The Ukrainian government has raised almost US$13 million in cryptocurrency after posting appeals on social media for donations of bitcoin and other digital tokens, according to data from blockchain analysis firm Elliptic.
Ukraine on Saturday last week appealed for donations by posting digital wallet addresses on Twitter, with the Ministry of Digital Transformation saying the money would be used “to destroy as much Russian soldiers as possible.”
Crypto donations to Ukrainian volunteer and hacking groups have also spiked since the Russian attack began, Elliptic said.
Some well-established charities — including Save the Children and Mercy Corps — are also allowing donors to support their relief efforts with bitcoin.
NON-FUNGIBLE TOKENS
Within the world of crypto, some have been using non-fungible tokens (NFTs) — digital assets representing a unique digital item — to collect funds.
Russian punk band Pussy Riot has joined forces with crypto groups Trippy Labs and UkraineDAO to auction off the NFT of an Ukrainian flag and donate the proceeds to a local charity.
“Our goal is to raise funds to donate to Ukrainian civilian organizations who help those suffering from the war that Putin started in Ukraine,” the band wrote on Twitter.
Users can pool resources into a single bid and receive in exchange “LOVE” tokens that according to UkraineDAO’s Web site have no utility nor value, “but are a beautiful testament and reminder of your contribution to a noble cause.”
The initiative has raised about US$3.5 million so far.
COUNTERING INTERNET SHUTDOWNS
Internet connectivity in Ukraine has been disrupted by the Russian invasion, and Moscow has taken steps to control information at home by restricting access to social media platforms, including Twitter and Facebook.
In a bid to keep Ukraine online, SpaceX billionaire Elon Musk on Sunday said that the company’s Starlink satellite broadband service had been activated in Ukraine and SpaceX was sending more terminals to the country.
Russian digital rights group Net Freedoms has published a series of tips to help people affected by an Internet outage to communicate with loved ones and keep informed about the latest developments.
These include using “light” messaging services like Signal, deleting apps that generate Internet traffic and disconnecting unnecessary “smart” from the Wi-Fi network to ensure short spells of connectivity are not wasted.
Through its Telegram channel, the group has also urged followers to donate money to a legal aid organization that is representing Russians arrested for protesting against the war.
COMPANY ACTION
Tech companies have also announced measures.
Face-swap app Reface has started sending push notifications about the invasion to its users, including those in Russia, and watermarking videos with a Ukrainian flag in a show of support for the country, news site Techcrunch reported.
Meta, previously known as Facebook, has barred Russian state media from running ads or monetizing on its platform anywhere in the world.
Google has taken a similar step, while also disabling some Google Maps tools that provide live information about traffic conditions and how busy different places are for Ukraine, saying it was for the safety of local communities.
In the event of a war with China, Taiwan has some surprisingly tough defenses that could make it as difficult to tackle as a porcupine: A shoreline dotted with swamps, rocks and concrete barriers; conscription for all adult men; highways and airports that are built to double as hardened combat facilities. This porcupine has a soft underbelly, though, and the war in Iran is exposing it: energy. About 39,000 ships dock at Taiwan’s ports each year, more than the 30,000 that transit the Strait of Hormuz. About one-fifth of their inbound tonnage is coal, oil, refined fuels and liquefied natural gas (LNG),
On Monday, the day before Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) departed on her visit to China, the party released a promotional video titled “Only with peace can we ‘lie flat’” to highlight its desire to have peace across the Taiwan Strait. However, its use of the expression “lie flat” (tang ping, 躺平) drew sarcastic comments, with critics saying it sounded as if the party was “bowing down” to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Amid the controversy over the opposition parties blocking proposed defense budgets, Cheng departed for China after receiving an invitation from the CCP, with a meeting with
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) is leading a delegation to China through Sunday. She is expected to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing tomorrow. That date coincides with the anniversary of the signing of the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), which marked a cornerstone of Taiwan-US relations. Staging their meeting on this date makes it clear that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) intends to challenge the US and demonstrate its “authority” over Taiwan. Since the US severed official diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979, it has relied on the TRA as a legal basis for all
Taiwan ranks second globally in terms of share of population with a higher-education degree, with about 60 percent of Taiwanese holding a post-secondary or graduate degree, a survey by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development showed. The findings are consistent with Ministry of the Interior data, which showed that as of the end of last year, 10.602 million Taiwanese had completed post-secondary education or higher. Among them, the number of women with graduate degrees was 786,000, an increase of 48.1 percent over the past decade and a faster rate of growth than among men. A highly educated population brings clear advantages.
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