Apple has informed Radio Free Europe/RadioLiberty (RFE/RL) that it’s removed Current Time’s app from the Russian version of its App Store at the request of Roskomnadzor, Russia’s media regulatory agency.
Apple told RFE/RL in a letter that the reason it removed the app is that it contained content that is illegal in Russia and materials from an organization deemed “undesirable” by the Russian authorities.
After the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Roskomnadzor blocked the websites of Russian-language projects of the RSE/RS, including the websites of Radio Liberty and Present Time. On March 6, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty announced the suspension of activities in Russia due to pressure from the authorities: two days earlier, the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation appealed to the Moscow Arbitration Court with a demand for forced bankruptcy of the Russian division of the RSE/RS. These actions, according to the media corporation, are the culmination of a long-term campaign to hinder the work of Radio Liberty and other Russian-language projects of the RSE/RS, the office of which was opened in Moscow in 1991 at the invitation of Russian President Boris Yeltsin. In February 2024, the Ministry of Justice of Russia declared the corporation’s activities “undesirable”.
At the request of Roskomnadzor in July 2024, Apple removed 25 VPN services from the Russian App Store, and another 98 in September. After the first removal of VPN services, representatives of independent media, non-governmental organizations and civil activists asked Apple to return all deleted VPN applications to the App Store, as well as not to respond to requests and orders of the Russian authorities that contradict international human rights standards. “We ask you to stop helping the authoritarian regime in suppressing freedom of speech in Russia and return blocked VPN services to the Russian App Store,” they said.
Apple has removed 98 VPN services from the app store in Russia – four times more than Roskomnadzor demanded, according to RFE/RL, an independent media organization funded by a grant from the U.S. Congress through the United States Agency for Global Media, broadcasts in 27 languages across 23 countries, mainly targeting regions with limited media freedom. Its Russian-language projects have been the focus of increasing governmental pressure, particularly since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
RFE/RL had no immediate comment on Apple’s recent decision.
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