GitHub Suspends Russian Developers’ Accounts Over US Sanctions

GitHub appears to have blocked Russian developers’ accounts under US sanctions laws. Individual software makers as well as companies from the country would no longer be able to access the developer platform. Russian code repositories were also removed.

Only users who are or were involved with sanctioned Russian companies would be banned from the platform, so writes BleepingComputer. GitHub, which is under Microsoft, has not publicly announced the sanctions. According to the Russian Habr objecting users will receive an email explaining that US trade laws prohibit the platform from providing services to users from sanctioned countries.

GitHub’s action is in direct contrast to an earlier statement from the IT platform; in early March, the company wrote that everyone is assured of free open source services, with developers from Russia being explicitly mentioned. “We are the home of open source and all developers and take our role as the guardian of open collaboration and the free flow of information among our connected users very seriously. This means that we keep the platform accessible to all developers, wherever they come from (…) We ensure services for everyone, including developers from Russia.”

In a statement to BleepingComputer, GitHub said it still adheres to this philosophy. Since the company is based in the US, it says it must “restrict users and customers if they are labeled as specially designated nationals or are part of blocked parties under US sanctions laws.” It is not clear whether affected accounts are or were indeed affiliated with sanctioned companies. GitHub provides a form for users to object to the suspension. In some cases, this could lead to a reversal of the suspension.

The email Russian users would receive if they object to the suspension of their account. Image via Habr.com