Analysts have warned that Apple’s removal of two independent media sites’ apps from Russia’s App Store set a “dangerous precedent”.
The affected apps are Current Time, a Russian-language network produced by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) in cooperation with VOA, and the Kyrgyz language news app.
RFE/RL and VOA are independent media outlets funded by the U.S. Congress.
Apple said in a letter to RFE/RL that the action is against content that is considered illegal in Russia. Apple added that RFE/RL is an “undesirable” organization in Russia.
RFE/RL Chairman Steven Kaps said he was concerned about Apple’s compliance with Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor.
“We hope that this decision, which is part of a trend of denying people in authoritarian countries access to uncensored information, will be reversed,” Capas said in a statement shared with VOA.
Digital rights experts condemned the move.
“These trends set a dangerous precedent for tech companies to inadvertently support state-sponsored information censorship,” Amnesty Tech’s Matt Mahmoudi told VOA.
Mahmoudi said tech companies may comply with requests from foreign governments because they “put profits ahead of their international legal obligations.” These bans violate the United Nations right to freedom of expression, he said.
Apple did not immediately respond to VOA’s request for comment.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) called on Apple to reinstate the app.
Such bans “restrict access to critical information and embolden authoritarian regimes seeking to silence independent media in countries like Russia,” said Grunosa, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator. Said said.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, analysts have wondered how Moscow has used internet shutdowns, along with laws cracking down on disinformation about the war and so-called “undesirable” organizations, to shut down independent media. Document how it has been used.
Access to independent news is restricted and websites such as RFE/RL and VOA are blocked. Russia also designated RFE/RL as an “undesirable organization” in February. This designation means that a company is considered a threat to national security. As a result, these organizations and their audiences may be subject to penalties.
Separately, Russia experienced a major YouTube outage in August. This platform is one of the few sites where viewers can access independent information.
For a long time, playback speeds were slow and nearly impossible to watch in this country.
At the time, Russia accused YouTube’s parent company Google. However, investigative reporters held Russia’s state regulators responsible. YouTube also rejected claims that it was to blame for the slowdown.
The Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to VOA’s request for comment.
Anastasia Gilmont of the digital civil rights organization Access Now said viewers often use virtual private networks (VPNs) to access banned apps to circumvent censorship.
Last month, Apple came under fire for banning 98 VPN services from Russia’s App Store. The media regulator publicly requested the removal of 25 companies in July.
“This trend is very worrying,” Gillemont told VOA. “VPNs are essential in restricted environments, especially for users in Russia.”
Some media sites banned by Russia use technology built into their apps to circumvent firewalls and bans. The news website Meduza, which is blocked in Russia, uses data obfuscation techniques to access Russian viewers without a VPN, according to a representative from its technical team.
“This is a cat-and-mouse game. They are trying to block our technology and we are trying to come up with something new,” the representative, who requested anonymity for security reasons, told VOA in an email. Ta.
Gilmont wants Apple to provide transparency about its decision to remove the news app from the Russian market and what Roskomnadzor’s demands are.
Until then, “there is a consensus among digital rights experts and human rights defenders that everything that is happening is an act of censorship,” she said.
Russia scores 20 out of 100 on the Internet Freedom Index, with 0 indicating the most restrictive digital environment.
