Access restrictions in Russia and the recently embargoed regions of Ukraine

Editor’s note: This post was edited on February 15, 2023 to include updates on Slack’s exit from the Russian market. Previously, it was edited on March 28, 2022 to add clarification regarding compliance with applicable laws.

Slack is required to comply with sanctions regulations in the U.S. and other jurisdictions where we operate, including restrictions on supplying services in the recently embargoed regions of Ukraine and sanctions against Russia-related entities and individuals that have been placed on the U.S. Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list.

On March 22, 2022, in compliance with the law, we blocked access to Slack within these embargoed regions and disabled the accounts of sanctioned Russia-related entities and individuals. This follows Slack’s earlier compliance with sanctions that required immediate action. Where permitted by law, we have provided affected users in the embargoed regions and sanctioned Russia-related entities and individuals with advance notice of these actions and information on options for exporting their account data. Subject to applicable law, users located in embargoed regions may regain full access to their accounts and data upon leaving the embargoed regions.

As previously communicated, Slack, like Salesforce, stands in solidarity with the Ukrainian people and is exiting its small number of business relationships in Russia. In March 2022, Slack ceased offering Paid plans in the country and began moving customers based in Russia to the Free plan at the end of their billing cycle. At that time, Slack also halted the creation of new workspaces from within Russia, either Free or Paid, and the creation of new user accounts on Free workspaces from within the country.

As we are no longer pursuing business in Russia, beginning in March 2023, Slack will cease offering Free plans in the country and will suspend remaining Russia-based workspaces. We have provided affected users with advance notice of these actions and information on options for exporting their account data.

We are taking great care with these changes and are communicating with our customers and other Slack users as early as possible, if and as permitted by law. If you think we’ve made a mistake in blocking your access to Slack, please reach out to feedback@slack.com and we’ll review as soon as possible.