Smartphone users in Russia can no longer download the LinkedIn app on iPhone or Android devices, following a similar move in China to block The New York Times app on iPhones, reports the New York Times.
The demand by Russian authorities to remove the LinkedIn app comes weeks after after a local court ruled that LinkedIn had breached the country’s data protection rules. When LinkedIn’s website was blocked, the apps stopped functioning properly.
Removing them from the Google Play store and Apple’s App Store may not have cut off access to content, but “it sent a signal that countries can push the tech giants to remove the apps,” notes the Times. Direct blocking of websites has been done by China, Russia, Turkey and several other nations for years, usually through their state-run internet service providers.
