Apple explains blocking VPNs and media apps in Russia

A number of applications have been removed from the AppStore in line with “lawful orders” from Russia’s regulator, the tech giant has said

Apple is removing VPN services, some media apps and podcasts from the AppStore in Russia due to legal requirements. Ignoring them would hinder its operations in the country, the US tech giant has said.

The company was responding to accusations from Paris-based NGO Reporters Without Borders (RFS), which blasted Apple on Tuesday for its “submission to Russia’s censorship” and urged it to “show more firmness towards the Russian censor.” The NGO lambasted Apple after it took down a number of apps, which reportedly featured content that violated Russian laws.

Shrugging off the accusations, Apple’s representative told RSF that “failure to comply with lawful orders could mean that Apple would no longer be able to operate an AppStore or distribute content in the country.”

The tech giant also argued that the US 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.”

RFS also criticized Apple for removing VPNs, or virtual private networks, which allow internet users to connect to web services via proxy servers in other countries.

The NGO cited a study which said that nearly 100 VPN apps have been removed from Apple’s Russian AppStore, including 25 at the government regulator’s request in July.

Last month, Apple removed an app of the US-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) from the AppStore in Russia in response to a demand from the country’s media regulator (Roskomnadzor). The company also blocked The Insider Live and Echo podcasts, both designated as “foreign agents” in Russia, as well as the BBC, which was flagged by the regulator because it hosted content labeled as ‘undesirable’ by Moscow.

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Apple removes US state-run media from Russian store

Russia designated the Prague-based RFE/RL, initially launched as a CIA information cut-out, as a ‘foreign agent’ in 2020 and banned the broadcaster in 2022, citing “the publication of materials that contain false information” about the Ukraine conflict.

Its subsidiary, Current Time – a joint venture with Voice of America, another US government-funded news agency – was blacklisted in Russia in 2024. Last month, the Current Time app was removed from the Apple Store for non-compliance with Russian regulations.

The blacklisted services specialize in producing content highly critical of Russia.

Since 2022, the US and EU have banned multiple Russian news organizations, including RT and Sputnik, accusing them of spreading ‘disinformation’. Multiple reports have also claimed that Russian media crews have repeatedly been denied access to international events. Russia responded by blacklisting a number of Western media outlets, including the BBC and Deutsche Welle.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier this year that freedom of the press was “deteriorating” in the West where “in violation of all international obligations, the so-called democratic countries continue to destroy any centers of dissent.”