(Reuters) – Reuters removed TASS as a customer in its business-tobusiness marketplace. This decision was made amid criticisms of Russia’s propaganda about the conflict in Ukraine.

We believe that making TASS content accessible on Reuters Connect does not support the objectives of the Thomson Reuters In an internal memo sent to employees on Wednesday, Matthew Keen (NYSE:) Trust Principles”

The Reuters Trust Principles were established in 1941 during World War Two. They commit Reuters to acting with integrity, independence, and free from bias.

TASS did not respond immediately.

Western media, as well as press freedom organizations have charged the Russian news agency with spreading propaganda and false claims about Ukraine’s war. Tech giants Google, Facebook and Twitter have made it difficult for Russian state media RT to access their services since the invasion. RT, Sputnik and others have accused distributors of censorship over restrictions they placed on their access to app stores and social media services.

Forbes reports that Getty Images and TASS cut ties in March. A Getty spokesperson said that to maintain the integrity and quality of content that we distribute, it requires that contributors and partners comply. According to Forbes, TASS didn’t respond immediately when a reporter asked for comments.

Reuters Connect enabled users to share and access TASS content, mainly news organizations. Reuters Connect offers content from Reuters News as well as about 90 third-party suppliers, such USA Today, Variety and CNBC.

Reuters Connect does not have any influence on the operations of the Reuters newsroom.

In 2020, the TASS-Reuters Connect partnership was established. In a June 1 press release that year, Michael Friedenberg, then president of Reuters, said having TASS join Reuters Connect was “building upon our valued partnership.” Sergei Mikhailov, TASS CEO, called the agreement “truly a significant event.”

According to the press release the TASS partnership offered customers “accessto breaking news and special video; videos about the Kremlin or Russian President Vladimir Putin as well as feature and general news.”

The partnership was criticized on social media after the invasion. A Politico story https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/20/reuters-staff-partnership-russian-wire-service-00018779 published on March 20 cited unnamed Reuters journalists saying they were embarrassed by the company’s partnership with TASS.

Thomson Reuters Corp. is the owner of Reuters.