Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Apple has significantly scaled back its operations in the country, suspending product sales and limiting services like Apple Pay. Despite these changes, Apple still maintains a full App Store in Russia. However, the company is facing criticism for complying with Russian government requests to remove VPN apps, a move viewed by many as enabling censorship.
A new report from GreatFire, using data from AppleCensorship (a platform monitoring app availability in Apple's App Stores), claims that nearly 60 VPN apps were removed by Apple in the summer of 2024, bringing the total number of removed apps to 98 since the war began. This includes well-known services such as ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Norton Secure, ProtonVPN, and Bitdefender.
These removals far exceed the 25 VPN apps reported as banned by Russia's communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, raising questions about Apple's transparency and its role in enabling censorship in Russia.
"Apple's silent removal of close to 60 VPN apps from the Russian App Store is not just alarming—it's a direct threat to digital freedom and privacy," said Benjamin Ismail, Director of the App Censorship Project at GreatFire. "By unilaterally restricting access to these essential tools without transparency or due process, Apple is complicit in enabling government censorship. We demand that Apple uphold its commitment to human rights and provide a clear explanation for these actions."
Apple's actions are likely in response to Russia's stringent internet laws, which require tech companies to cooperate with government censorship efforts. By restricting access to VPNs, the Russian government gains greater control over the flow of information and the ability to monitor its citizens.
Apple faces a familiar challenge: comply with authoritarian demands or risk reducing features, diminishing user experience, and impacting profits. Though it's unclear how significant the Russian market is for Apple now, the company still offers numerous services in the country, including Apple Music, Apple TV+, Apple Podcasts, Apple Fitness+, Apple Books, Shazam, iTunes, and Apple One subscriptions. Noncompliance could lead to penalties or even suspension of these services.
Balancing these decisions, Apple aims to keep the App Store operational so that residents can continue accessing the apps they need. In the past, Apple has emphasized that it must follow local laws in the countries where it operates, even when it disagrees with them.
