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Since Russia’s all-out attack on Ukraine, Apple has significantly scaled back its operations in the country. It has since stopped selling all products and restricted some services, such as Apple Pay. Despite this, Apple continues to operate a full-fledged App Store in Russia. However, the company is now facing well-deserved criticism for complying with the Russian government’s request to remove its VPN app to comply with local regulations (censorship).
A new report published by GreatFire using data from Apple Censorship, a platform that monitors the availability of apps on Apple’s App Store, reveals that nearly 60 VPN apps will be removed by Apple in the summer of 2024, and a war will begin. Since then, he claims a total of 98. This includes products from ExpressVPN and NordVPN, as well as Norton Secure, Proton, and Bitdefender.
These removals far exceed the 25 VPN apps Russia’s communications regulator Roskomnadzor reported it had banned, raising concerns about Apple’s transparency and role in enabling censorship in the country. .
“Apple’s silent removal of nearly 60 VPN apps from the Russian App Store is not only alarming, but a direct threat to digital freedom and privacy,” said GreatFire’s App Censorship Project Director. said Benjamin Ismail.
“By unilaterally restricting access to these critical tools without transparency or due process, Apple is helping to enable government censorship. We demand that the company uphold its commitment to human rights and provide a clear explanation for these actions.”
Apple likely removed these VPN apps to comply with Russia’s strict internet laws that require tech companies to cooperate with government censorship efforts. By restricting access to VPNs, the Russian government can more effectively control the flow of information and monitor its citizens.
Apple once again faces a familiar dilemma. Comply with authoritarian demands or you’ll start cutting back on functionality, reducing user experience, and of course cutting profits. It’s unclear exactly how big the Russian market is for Apple right now, but it offers many services, including Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Podcasts, Apple Fitness+, Apple Books, Shazam, iTunes, and Apple One subscriptions. Still operating. Violations may result in penalties and service suspension.
In the coming weeks, I’ll be traveling to Kiev, Ukraine, to attend Objective-See’s Objective for We 2.0 Apple Security event hosted by our friends at MacPaw. I look forward to the opportunity to report from the field for 9to5Mac. stay tuned!
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