Apple’s complicity with Russian censorship: RSF calls on the tech giant to refuse compliance with regulators that do not respect international standards for the right to information
In blatant contradiction with its proclaimed commitment to freedom of information, Apple is yielding to the demands of Russian censors by removing independent journalistic apps and content from its App Store in Russia. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) urges the company to genuinely defend citizens' access to free and independent information by refusing to comply with the orders of a regulator whose actions do not align with international standards. RSF also calls on Apple to adopt transparency measures.
On 14 November, Apple removed three leading journalistic podcasts from its Russian App Store: “The Insider Live”, the BBC’s “Что это было?” (“What was that?”) and “Echo”. The next day, Apple also removed the app of Svoboda, the Russian offshoot of US broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL).
Previously, in October, Apple blocked the Current Time app produced jointly by RFE/RL and the US public broadcaster Voice of America. And in August 2023, Apple removed the podcasts of the Russian exile media outlets Meduza and Kholod from its platform when pressed by the Russian regulator, Roskomnadzor. These decisions by Apple have contributed to the progressive elimination of independent media from the Russian digital arena.
“Apple’s submission to Russia’s censorship seriously compromises Russian citizens’ access to reliable and independent information. It also discourages exile media outlets, which invest time and resources in developing applications to reach their audiences in Russia. Freedom of information must prevail over economic opportunism. RSF urges Apple to show more firmness towards the Russian censor. The tech giant must stop obeying regulators that do not comply with international standards on defending information. It should also notify NGOs immediately about censorship requests emanating from the Russian regulator.
Shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, Apple suspended sales in Russia and removed propaganda apps like RT and Sputnik. But it now appears to be collaborating with Roskomnadzor by removing not only independent media outlets but also vital censorship-circumvention tools such as VPNs (virtual private networks) from its App Store.
A study by GreatFire, a project which was originally created to monitor censorship in China, concluded on 25 September that nearly 100 VPN apps had been removed from Apple’s Russian App Store, including 25 at Roskomnadzor’s request in July 2024. RSF and 27 other international and Russian civil society organisations published an open letter condemning this decision.
When contacted by RSF, Apple defended its actions on the grounds of its obligation to comply with local laws, and it denied having proactively removed VPN apps from the App Store.
“Failure to comply with lawful orders could mean that Apple would no longer be able to operate an App Store or distribute content in the country,” Apple’s representative said to RSF. “The United States government has encouraged companies to continue to make communications services available to the Russian people because democratic principles are best aided through the availability of these services.”
Apple’s compliance with arbitrary orders from an authoritarian state calls into question its public commitment to freedom of information, which is set out in “Our Commitment to Human Rights,” a declaration adopted in 2020. It also raises fears of a repetition of its actions in 2017 in China, the world’s biggest jailer of journalists, when the company blocked VPNs on Chinese iPhones, which had allowed Internet users, including many journalists and their sources, to protect themselves from surveillance and to connect to sites banned in China such as Facebook, Google and Wikipedia.
Despite Western sanctions on Russia, Apple continues to prosper there thanks to indirect imports of iPhones. In 2024, iPhone sales constituted 12% of the Russian smartphone market, more than in 2020, according to an article published this week by the Russian media outlet The Moscow Times, which is banned in Russia.
