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Is Kagi still using Russian government owned tech (Yandex) that censors informations about the illegal Ukraine war crimes ? If so, even if I do agree with your

by maelito 3mo ago

Is Kagi still using Russian government owned tech (Yandex) that censors informations about the illegal Ukraine war crimes ? If so, even if I do agree with your claims about the need to avoid ads so that the user is not the product, I believe there's a double standard in action here. I really liked the product before having to cancel my subscription for this reason. Now I'm stuck with boring Qwant and Ecosia... Well hopefully Oursie.com based on Staan with a subscription system will be a good alternative soon.

flexagoon 3mo ago
> that censors informations about the illegal Ukraine war crimes If your concern is specifically about the censorship, then it's not an issue with Kagi, since Yandex is used as one of many sources (and mainly for images afaik)
- chinathrow 3mo ago
  They should simply stop using any russian tech at this time.
  - tommica 3mo ago
    For what reason? It's a source, not THE source
    - chinathrow 3mo ago
      Have you followed the news?
      - x______________ 3mo ago
        How the US is attempting to flatten Iran and everyone is boycotting US products? Maybe we are getting wiser to 'country bogeymen bad' stories and realizing that only bad people do bad things.
        libertine 3mo ago
        Why are you trying to divert the topic? You don't think the genocide in Ukraine has enough scale of a tragedy, with more than 2 million casualties since 2022? Isn't this enough to flag a product? The Ukrainians posed no threat to anyone, they didn't have a nuclear program, in fact they surrendered the third largest nuclear stockpile and one of the signatures of the memorandum is trying to delete Ukraine. Why are you trying to dilute this event which is directly related to the topic? Is it to try to normalize the crime of genocide in Ukraine?
        inigyou 3mo ago
        Because your argument suffers the fallacy of proving too much. You're trying to say that all Russian technology must be boycotted because it does a war, but your argument also says American technology must be boycotted, Chinese technology must be boycotted and European technology must be boycotted. No transistors for anyone who subscribes to your argument! https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/G5eMM3Wp3hbCuKKPE/proving-too-much https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/G5eMM3Wp3hbCuKKPE/proving-to...
        libertine 3mo ago
        No, it's simpler than that - there's an ongoing genocide in Ukraine, a country that was at peace and posed threat to no one. The guys that surrendered their nukes in exchange for security, right? What I'm saying is that anything that helps prolong this war should be avoided. It's not a fallacy, it's actually common sense. You're again trying to dilute the genocide by bringing USA, China, etc. So why are you trying to normalize one event, by diluting it among other events that have no relationship whatsoever with it?
        inigyou 3mo ago
        Why is the Ukraine war the only war that matters? Shouldn't we also stop helping prolong the Iran war? I'm not diluting one event - I'm saying we need to care about all wars.
  - shikon7 3mo ago
    Wouldn't that be censorship, too?
    - qzx_pierri 3mo ago
      You’re not allowed to ask that question.
  - dismantlethesun 3mo ago
    I don't really see any difference between this and the vast amounts of of Alaska pollock or cod that is imported from Russia.
    - libertine 3mo ago
      The difference is information manipulation, like misinformation. While there should be a complete sanction of Russian products, cod is cod, it's a consumable that has to follow public health standards. There's no such thing for information, and for many years the Russian state has been trying hard at it.
      - qzx_pierri 3mo ago
        Yes, because that never happens in America. Only Russia does that. No one else.
        libertine 3mo ago
        Well the last time the US committed genocide of a culture was way before any tech company was founded, while Russia is doing it since 2022 - by their own admission. If we count of course the illegal annexation of territory, one of the most egregious crimes against sovereignty, it's been doing it since the occupation of Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine in 2014, you get the idea. What I don't understand is why you're trying to divert the attention to the US, the topic regarding the current crimes against humanity and war crimes of Russia have enough merits to be a topic on its own.
        reactordev 3mo ago
        I think you need to research US foreign policy. They are literally trying to do that with Iran. They helped Israel do it to the Palestinians. Not to take away from the Ukraine atrocities but US is just as bad as Russia.
        libertine 3mo ago
  - RobotToaster 3mo ago
    Should they also stop using American tech because of the vast list of American war crimes?
    - 20k 3mo ago
      I mean yes, there's an enormous movement to diversify away from american tech currently in the EU, and a massive amount of investment to get away from the entire american tech bubble I have no idea why you're phrasing this like this when so much money is being put into solving precisely this problem right now
      - RobotToaster 3mo ago
        > have no idea why you're phrasing this like this Because Kagi is in California.
        maelito 3mo ago
        Do we live in Ecotopia ? Did I miss the news ? Hopefully yes.
    - maelito 3mo ago
      Well there are millions of European trying to avoid US tech. It's hard. A lot harder than Russian tech. As for the comparison, I don't think it's fair. The US has not yet invaded its neighbor, Canada, leading to millions of deaths and heavy casualties. Let's not adopt your binary view on this matter.
      - GreenWatermelon 3mo ago
        So it's ok if they invade far-away countries, napalm bomb them leading to millions of casualties, but not ok to invade neighboring countries? The US is responsible for far more pain and suffering in my nock of the world, so it's funny when Americans act like they have some sort of moral high ground.
        3mo ago
  - crote 3mo ago
    Stop using all Russian tech for the illegal Ukraine invasion, stop using all American tech for using the illegal Iran war, stop using all Chinese tech for the Uyghur genocide, stop using all Arabian tech for their modern-day slavery, stop using all (most?) European tech for their direct support of the Palestinian Genocide... Very few acceptable countries left, it seems. Canada, maybe?
    - coldtea 3mo ago
      Canada, those oppressors of the natives?
  - deleted 3mo ago
    [deleted]
walrus01 3mo ago
Kagi is directly funding Yandex by sending search traffic to it, which then in turn funds the Russian state and war. https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=kagi+yandex https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=kagi+yand... The guy who started it has previously been here on HN defending Kagi's business with Yandex, and personally I think his arguments are BS. Yandex does not add any special feature or functionality that is so great they should make it obligatory to include as a default option. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44596341 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44596341
- siva7 3mo ago
  is this a joke? namecheap did years ago the brave move by suspending services to russian customers. why should we support a company that seems involved in russian war affairs?
  - walrus01 3mo ago
    Unfortunately it appears to not be a joke, my best theory is that either the persons running it have sympathies with Russia and their war efforts, or they value the marginal gain in revenue from having Yandex integrated in some sort of ultra cut throat free market capitalism approach with no qualms or concerns about anything ethical or moral.
    - x______________ 3mo ago
      What about the US-initiated war in Iran?
      - walrus01 3mo ago
        [flagged]
        dismantlethesun 3mo ago
        Consider that perhaps the person you're responding to really does treat Russian and the US equally... by continuing to import goods from both, and use technology or services from both countries. Many people in Europe eat Russian fish, warm their houses with Russian natural gas, use American SaaS, and fill their houses with goods made in China. That doesn't mean they support everything those countries do. It does mean their solution for nation-state level conflicts isn't a total embargo of the country.
zaphirplane 3mo ago
I don’t know if your claims are true, misinformed, rumors. On the censor bit all companies operate within the law of the country they are in .
- maelito 3mo ago
  They have been confirmed by the CEO of Kagi and its docs. https://kagifeedback.org/d/5445-reconsider-yandex-integration-due-to-the-geopolitical-status-quo https://kagifeedback.org/d/5445-reconsider-yandex-integratio... > On the censor bit all companies operate within the law of the country they are in . Yes, that's why I don't want my money poured from Kagi to Yandex, a company owned by the state of a country that invaded its neighbour and doing war crimes.
  - master-lincoln 3mo ago
    > Yes, that's why I don't want my money poured to a company owned by the state of a country that invaded its neighbour and doing war crimes. What makes you think Kagi is owned by the Russian state? Should we cancel all US services because the US government started the Iran war for no reason?
    - inigyou 3mo ago
      They obviously meant Yandex
  - GreenWatermelon 3mo ago
    Do you instead, want it poured to companies in the US, A country that invades other countries and bombs schools and hospitals? And is currently supporting another country ALSO engaging in war crimes abd headed by an internationally wanted criminal?
  - inigyou 3mo ago
    Kagi is also a company owned by the state of a country that invaded its non-neighbor and does war crimes. So is Google. Is it only bad if the countries are neighbors, or what?
epolanski 3mo ago
1. Yandex is dutch controlled, the russia-related business got sold in 2024 to Russian investors. 2. Yandex was never owned by the Russian government, albeit government-related censorship happened (but so does on Twitter/Google/Meta etc as they all have to comply with local laws where they operate). 3. Kagi answers questions about Russian war crimes. You can try yourself [1] 4. There's no such thing as a legal war, the closest is a UN sanctioned peacekeeping operation. [1] https://kagi.com/search?q=what+war+crimes+did+russia+commit+in+ukraine https://kagi.com/search?q=what+war+crimes+did+russia+commit+...
- OrangeMusic 3mo ago
  Not the OP, but I think 'illegal' was for 'war crimes', not 'war'.
- blackhaz 3mo ago
  This is naive on so many levels. Yandex is Russian government. You can't take a shit without KGB in Russia.
  - epolanski 3mo ago
    Only the Russian business is in hands of Russian investors since 2024. And again, you can check that Kagi answers any query about Russia yourself.
    - bjord 3mo ago
      enrico, at this point you're knowingly spreading misinformation. I corrected you in my last comment: the yandex search index is owned by the russian entity. there is no non-russian "yandex" anymore, period. > After a short transition period following completion, YNV will cease to use the Yandex brand, which will be retained by the Target group. We expect that our International Businesses will develop their own branding going forward. We intend to seek shareholder approval to change the legal name of YNV in due course. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1513845/000151384524000002/yndx-20240205xex99d1.htm https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1513845/000151384524...
Toldoven 3mo ago
As a Ukrainian user of Kagi, their partnership with Yandex is unfortunate, since they are indirectly funding the war, but at the same time I can totally see why it makes sense for the service they're providing With a service like that you want as much diversification as possible, since western search engines can get heavily censored too. Even if they aren't as censored right now, this might change at any moment with us not even noticing it For example, right now Yandex tends to be much more lenient to piracy, since it's basically legal in Russia
- reactordev 3mo ago
  Make no mistake, western search is censored probably more so than eastern search. *EDIT* All you need to do is look at how DMCA is handled… TikTok… Instagram… Facebook… Google…
- maelito 3mo ago
  Yandex is only for image search. Implementing a "I don't want to fund Yandex" option would solve the problem for customers trying not to fund this war. This would even lower the cost of the user's actions. Not doing so is a strong take.
  - receiptful-io 3mo ago
    EU countries are also funding the war. Which EU-hosted services could we make optional in Kagi, if any?
    - maelito 3mo ago
      You mean funding the war to repel the clear, unambiguous aggressor ? Yes.
      - heavensteeth 3mo ago
        I agree whole heatedly with severing ties with Yandex, but no, Europe still continues to funnel billions of Euros to Russia; €5.57B in goods (plus €7.81B in exports) and €3.63B in energy[0] in Q1 2026. [0] https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=EU_international_trade_in_goods_-_latest_developments https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php...
cimi_ 3mo ago
I stopped using Kagi news when I saw it has Russia Today as a source for many articles
- roysting 3mo ago
  [flagged]
  - inigyou 3mo ago
    Well Russia Today isn't really a news source. It's more of a propaganda outlet. But so are most of the sources that we call news, anyway. Maybe if high quality news sources existed, Kagi could uprank them, but they don't. This isn't similar to the Yandex situation because Yandex actually returns good results and Russia Today is garbage.
  - tokai 3mo ago
    Yes it is a good thing to actively avoid information warfare by adversarial government entity. Its like not wanting literal feces in my food sources.
  - TiredOfLife 3mo ago
    I say that roysting is eating live kittens. It must be true because a source posted that information
  - spider-mario 3mo ago
    Where is the dehumanisation in “I stopped using this because it makes extensive use of a source I consider untrustworthy”? That seems like quite a leap.
skocznymroczny 3mo ago
[flagged]
salemh 3mo ago
[dead]

by maelito 3mo ago

flexagoon 3mo ago

> that censors informations about the illegal Ukraine war crimes If your concern is specifically about the censorship, then it's not an issue with Kagi, since Yandex is used as one of many sources (and mainly for images afaik)

chinathrow 3mo ago
They should simply stop using any russian tech at this time.
- tommica 3mo ago
  For what reason? It's a source, not THE source
  - chinathrow 3mo ago
    Have you followed the news?
    - x______________ 3mo ago
      How the US is attempting to flatten Iran and everyone is boycotting US products? Maybe we are getting wiser to 'country bogeymen bad' stories and realizing that only bad people do bad things.
      - libertine 3mo ago
        Why are you trying to divert the topic? You don't think the genocide in Ukraine has enough scale of a tragedy, with more than 2 million casualties since 2022? Isn't this enough to flag a product? The Ukrainians posed no threat to anyone, they didn't have a nuclear program, in fact they surrendered the third largest nuclear stockpile and one of the signatures of the memorandum is trying to delete Ukraine. Why are you trying to dilute this event which is directly related to the topic? Is it to try to normalize the crime of genocide in Ukraine?
        inigyou 3mo ago
        Because your argument suffers the fallacy of proving too much. You're trying to say that all Russian technology must be boycotted because it does a war, but your argument also says American technology must be boycotted, Chinese technology must be boycotted and European technology must be boycotted. No transistors for anyone who subscribes to your argument! https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/G5eMM3Wp3hbCuKKPE/proving-too-much https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/G5eMM3Wp3hbCuKKPE/proving-to...
        libertine 3mo ago
        No, it's simpler than that - there's an ongoing genocide in Ukraine, a country that was at peace and posed threat to no one. The guys that surrendered their nukes in exchange for security, right? What I'm saying is that anything that helps prolong this war should be avoided. It's not a fallacy, it's actually common sense. You're again trying to dilute the genocide by bringing USA, China, etc. So why are you trying to normalize one event, by diluting it among other events that have no relationship whatsoever with it?
        inigyou 3mo ago
        Why is the Ukraine war the only war that matters? Shouldn't we also stop helping prolong the Iran war? I'm not diluting one event - I'm saying we need to care about all wars.
- shikon7 3mo ago
  Wouldn't that be censorship, too?
  - qzx_pierri 3mo ago
    You’re not allowed to ask that question.
- dismantlethesun 3mo ago
  I don't really see any difference between this and the vast amounts of of Alaska pollock or cod that is imported from Russia.
  - libertine 3mo ago
    The difference is information manipulation, like misinformation. While there should be a complete sanction of Russian products, cod is cod, it's a consumable that has to follow public health standards. There's no such thing for information, and for many years the Russian state has been trying hard at it.
    - qzx_pierri 3mo ago
      Yes, because that never happens in America. Only Russia does that. No one else.
      - libertine 3mo ago
        Well the last time the US committed genocide of a culture was way before any tech company was founded, while Russia is doing it since 2022 - by their own admission. If we count of course the illegal annexation of territory, one of the most egregious crimes against sovereignty, it's been doing it since the occupation of Moldova, Georgia, Ukraine in 2014, you get the idea. What I don't understand is why you're trying to divert the attention to the US, the topic regarding the current crimes against humanity and war crimes of Russia have enough merits to be a topic on its own.
        reactordev 3mo ago
        I think you need to research US foreign policy. They are literally trying to do that with Iran. They helped Israel do it to the Palestinians. Not to take away from the Ukraine atrocities but US is just as bad as Russia.
        libertine 3mo ago
- RobotToaster 3mo ago
  Should they also stop using American tech because of the vast list of American war crimes?
  - 20k 3mo ago
    I mean yes, there's an enormous movement to diversify away from american tech currently in the EU, and a massive amount of investment to get away from the entire american tech bubble I have no idea why you're phrasing this like this when so much money is being put into solving precisely this problem right now
    - RobotToaster 3mo ago
      > have no idea why you're phrasing this like this Because Kagi is in California.
      - maelito 3mo ago
        Do we live in Ecotopia ? Did I miss the news ? Hopefully yes.
  - maelito 3mo ago
    Well there are millions of European trying to avoid US tech. It's hard. A lot harder than Russian tech. As for the comparison, I don't think it's fair. The US has not yet invaded its neighbor, Canada, leading to millions of deaths and heavy casualties. Let's not adopt your binary view on this matter.
    - GreenWatermelon 3mo ago
      So it's ok if they invade far-away countries, napalm bomb them leading to millions of casualties, but not ok to invade neighboring countries? The US is responsible for far more pain and suffering in my nock of the world, so it's funny when Americans act like they have some sort of moral high ground.
      - 3mo ago
- crote 3mo ago
  Stop using all Russian tech for the illegal Ukraine invasion, stop using all American tech for using the illegal Iran war, stop using all Chinese tech for the Uyghur genocide, stop using all Arabian tech for their modern-day slavery, stop using all (most?) European tech for their direct support of the Palestinian Genocide... Very few acceptable countries left, it seems. Canada, maybe?
  - coldtea 3mo ago
    Canada, those oppressors of the natives?
- deleted 3mo ago
  [deleted]

walrus01 3mo ago

Kagi is directly funding Yandex by sending search traffic to it, which then in turn funds the Russian state and war. https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=kagi+yandex https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=kagi+yand... The guy who started it has previously been here on HN defending Kagi's business with Yandex, and personally I think his arguments are BS. Yandex does not add any special feature or functionality that is so great they should make it obligatory to include as a default option. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44596341 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44596341

siva7 3mo ago
is this a joke? namecheap did years ago the brave move by suspending services to russian customers. why should we support a company that seems involved in russian war affairs?
- walrus01 3mo ago
  Unfortunately it appears to not be a joke, my best theory is that either the persons running it have sympathies with Russia and their war efforts, or they value the marginal gain in revenue from having Yandex integrated in some sort of ultra cut throat free market capitalism approach with no qualms or concerns about anything ethical or moral.
  - x______________ 3mo ago
    What about the US-initiated war in Iran?
    - walrus01 3mo ago
      [flagged]
      - dismantlethesun 3mo ago
        Consider that perhaps the person you're responding to really does treat Russian and the US equally... by continuing to import goods from both, and use technology or services from both countries. Many people in Europe eat Russian fish, warm their houses with Russian natural gas, use American SaaS, and fill their houses with goods made in China. That doesn't mean they support everything those countries do. It does mean their solution for nation-state level conflicts isn't a total embargo of the country.

zaphirplane 3mo ago

I don’t know if your claims are true, misinformed, rumors. On the censor bit all companies operate within the law of the country they are in .

maelito 3mo ago
They have been confirmed by the CEO of Kagi and its docs. https://kagifeedback.org/d/5445-reconsider-yandex-integration-due-to-the-geopolitical-status-quo https://kagifeedback.org/d/5445-reconsider-yandex-integratio... > On the censor bit all companies operate within the law of the country they are in . Yes, that's why I don't want my money poured from Kagi to Yandex, a company owned by the state of a country that invaded its neighbour and doing war crimes.
- master-lincoln 3mo ago
  > Yes, that's why I don't want my money poured to a company owned by the state of a country that invaded its neighbour and doing war crimes. What makes you think Kagi is owned by the Russian state? Should we cancel all US services because the US government started the Iran war for no reason?
  - inigyou 3mo ago
    They obviously meant Yandex
- GreenWatermelon 3mo ago
  Do you instead, want it poured to companies in the US, A country that invades other countries and bombs schools and hospitals? And is currently supporting another country ALSO engaging in war crimes abd headed by an internationally wanted criminal?
- inigyou 3mo ago
  Kagi is also a company owned by the state of a country that invaded its non-neighbor and does war crimes. So is Google. Is it only bad if the countries are neighbors, or what?

epolanski 3mo ago

1. Yandex is dutch controlled, the russia-related business got sold in 2024 to Russian investors. 2. Yandex was never owned by the Russian government, albeit government-related censorship happened (but so does on Twitter/Google/Meta etc as they all have to comply with local laws where they operate). 3. Kagi answers questions about Russian war crimes. You can try yourself [1] 4. There's no such thing as a legal war, the closest is a UN sanctioned peacekeeping operation. [1] https://kagi.com/search?q=what+war+crimes+did+russia+commit+in+ukraine https://kagi.com/search?q=what+war+crimes+did+russia+commit+...

OrangeMusic 3mo ago
Not the OP, but I think 'illegal' was for 'war crimes', not 'war'.
blackhaz 3mo ago
This is naive on so many levels. Yandex is Russian government. You can't take a shit without KGB in Russia.
- epolanski 3mo ago
  Only the Russian business is in hands of Russian investors since 2024. And again, you can check that Kagi answers any query about Russia yourself.
  - bjord 3mo ago
    enrico, at this point you're knowingly spreading misinformation. I corrected you in my last comment: the yandex search index is owned by the russian entity. there is no non-russian "yandex" anymore, period. > After a short transition period following completion, YNV will cease to use the Yandex brand, which will be retained by the Target group. We expect that our International Businesses will develop their own branding going forward. We intend to seek shareholder approval to change the legal name of YNV in due course. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1513845/000151384524000002/yndx-20240205xex99d1.htm https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1513845/000151384524...

Toldoven 3mo ago

As a Ukrainian user of Kagi, their partnership with Yandex is unfortunate, since they are indirectly funding the war, but at the same time I can totally see why it makes sense for the service they're providing With a service like that you want as much diversification as possible, since western search engines can get heavily censored too. Even if they aren't as censored right now, this might change at any moment with us not even noticing it For example, right now Yandex tends to be much more lenient to piracy, since it's basically legal in Russia

reactordev 3mo ago
Make no mistake, western search is censored probably more so than eastern search. *EDIT* All you need to do is look at how DMCA is handled… TikTok… Instagram… Facebook… Google…
maelito 3mo ago
Yandex is only for image search. Implementing a "I don't want to fund Yandex" option would solve the problem for customers trying not to fund this war. This would even lower the cost of the user's actions. Not doing so is a strong take.
- receiptful-io 3mo ago
  EU countries are also funding the war. Which EU-hosted services could we make optional in Kagi, if any?
  - maelito 3mo ago
    You mean funding the war to repel the clear, unambiguous aggressor ? Yes.
    - heavensteeth 3mo ago
      I agree whole heatedly with severing ties with Yandex, but no, Europe still continues to funnel billions of Euros to Russia; €5.57B in goods (plus €7.81B in exports) and €3.63B in energy[0] in Q1 2026. [0] https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=EU_international_trade_in_goods_-_latest_developments https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php...

cimi_ 3mo ago

I stopped using Kagi news when I saw it has Russia Today as a source for many articles

roysting 3mo ago
[flagged]
- inigyou 3mo ago
  Well Russia Today isn't really a news source. It's more of a propaganda outlet. But so are most of the sources that we call news, anyway. Maybe if high quality news sources existed, Kagi could uprank them, but they don't. This isn't similar to the Yandex situation because Yandex actually returns good results and Russia Today is garbage.
- tokai 3mo ago
  Yes it is a good thing to actively avoid information warfare by adversarial government entity. Its like not wanting literal feces in my food sources.
- TiredOfLife 3mo ago
  I say that roysting is eating live kittens. It must be true because a source posted that information
- spider-mario 3mo ago
  Where is the dehumanisation in “I stopped using this because it makes extensive use of a source I consider untrustworthy”? That seems like quite a leap.

skocznymroczny 3mo ago

[flagged]

salemh 3mo ago

[dead]