Apple kicks VPNs out of the Russian App Store
Circumventing Russian censorship and surveillance is becoming increasingly difficult in the country. Apple follows an order from authorities and blocks VPN apps
(Image: keport/Shutterstock)
Apple has blocked 25 VPN programs in the Russian version of the App Store – on July 4th of all days, the Independence Day of the USA. This means that iPhone and iPad users in the Russian Federation can no longer install or update these VPN apps. VPNs (virtual private networks) encrypt data traffic and serve to protect data privacy and security on the one hand and to circumvent censorship on the Internet on the other. Apple cites an order from the Russian internet supervisory and censorship authority Roskomnadzor in connection with the App Store terms and conditions, which require compliance with all regulations that apply in the respective country, as the reason for the block.
The funny thing is that the authority is referring to a law passed in 2006 that was intended to strengthen IT security and data security – the core application for VPNs. The law also provides for a censorship register to combat websites in three categories: Calls and instructions for suicide, production and acquisition of illegal drugs, and pornographic images of minors or invitations to produce them. However, over the years, numerous sources of information that are not dedicated to any of these topics have ended up on the index; the authority has also repeatedly banned VPN applications, although the law only provides for entries with "domain names and/or URLs of websites" for the blacklist.
VPN providers have been reporting repeated attempts by Russian authorities to disrupt the operation of their services since 2018. Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Kremlin tightened its censorship even further. Since then, not only certain VPN programs, but VPN protocols themselves have been on the list of banned "websites and/or URLs". To increase the pressure on citizens who want to inform themselves independently and exchange information without being monitored, the censorship authority decided to set up a national GeoIP database at the beginning of this year; it wants to be able to determine the location of any Russian IP address at any time. This was followed in March by a ban on advertising for VPN services.
The VPN providers affected by the app store block have three months to fight the censorship order in Russian courts. The provider Le VPN would also like to try this. Due to the lack of an independent judiciary in the Russian Federation, the prospects are modest. The provider Red Shield, which is also affected, already took legal action in Russia in 2018 and – unsurprisingly – failed. At the beginning of 2020, the company then turned to the European Court of Human Rights, where the case is still pending (Private Networks LP v Russia, Ref. 4945/20).
(Image: Apple)
Petition to Apple
Together with other VPN operators, Le VPN has launched a petition addressed to Apple, its CEO Tim Cook and the US Congress under the title "Apple helps Putin's censorship". "We urge members of the US Congress to pay attention to Apple's open support of Putin's censorship," says the petition text, "We demand that Apple stop supporting Putin and his regime in suppressing free speech in Russia and bring back the blocked VPN services in the Russian App Store." To do this, however, Apple would have to undermine Roskomnadzor's orders.
In response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Apple has stopped exporting hardware to the Russian Federation. However, the company continues to support devices already in circulation, as well as gray imported goods. The Apple Pay payment service has since been restricted, certain live data in Apple Maps is no longer available, but the App Store is.
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