TikTok has suspended new content and live streaming abilities on its platform in Russia due to the country’s new ‘fake news’ law, the app announced on Sunday, APA reports citing NBC News.

In a statement posted to TikTok’s newsroom, the app said the safety of the app’s employees and users is its highest priority.

TikTok said that “in light of Russia’s new ‘fake news’ law, we have no choice but to suspend live streaming and new content to our video service in Russia while we review the safety implications of this law.”

“Our in-app messaging service will not be affected,” the statement reads. “We will continue to evaluate the evolving circumstances in Russia to determine when we might fully resume our services with safety as our top priority.”

TikTok also said that it wants to be an outlet for “creativity and entertainment that can provide a source of relief and human connection during a time of war when people are facing immense tragedy and isolation.”

The platform is not the first media outlet to suspend its services in Russia amid the country’s invasion into Ukraine.

After the Russian parliament passed the “fake news” law, which makes it an offense to disseminate what it described as “fake” information about the country’s armed forces, the BBC announced it would suspend reporting work in Russia.

Russia also blocked Facebook, according to the nation’s media regulator, Roskomnadzor.

Source: Azeri-Press News Agency