Apple Pulls US-Funded Radio Free Europe App Over Russian Demands
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Apple has once again bowed to pressure from an overly restrictive government state, removing the US-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) news app from the Russian App Store. The app is still available in Apple’s App Store in other countries.
The app’s removal comes less than a month after Apple removed Current Time, an app from the independent media service and website also run by the same organization. Apple notified RFE/RL of the app’s removal from the App Store after Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor made the removal “request.”
In the case of the first removal, Roskomnadzor reportedly told Apple the app must be removed because it contained “undesirable” material. The regulatory organization is said to have used the same word to describe RFE/RL’s overall activities within Russia.
RFE/RL is a non-profit organization funded by the United States Congress via a grant from the United States Agency for Global Media. Reports indicate that Russia placed the organization on a list of “undesirable organizations” in February 2024.
RFE/RL President Stephen Capus called the decision “yet another example of how the Russian government sees truthful reporting as an existential threat.”
Apple has not commented on today’s app removal or last month’s removal of the Current Time app. While reports like this are frustrating, it should be noted that as an international business, Apple must abide by the laws of the countries it does business in.
In Russia, the government requires US firms operating in the country to open local offices. Apple’s corporate offices in Russia opened in February 2022.
In addition to RFE/RL’s apps, Apple also removed or hid several Russian-language podcasts produced by independent journalists. As “Mediazona” reported on November 14, new broadcasts of the Ekho Moskvy (“Echo of Moskow”) online radio station, The Insider publication, and BBC Russian service could no longer be found by Russian users on Apple’s Podcasts app.
“Apple is supporting authoritarian regimes in countries like Russia that are restricting access to critical information and trying to silence free media. We call on Apple to support press freedom and ensure people have access to objective, unbiased news,” said The Committee to Protect Journalists.
Russian authorities have cracked down in recent years as they work to regulate and control content on Russians’ internet-connected devices more strictly. We’ve seen sites like X and Facebook have their bandwidth throttled in the past as regulators explore the best ways to restrict the content to which Russian citizens have access.
While Google-owned video streaming service YouTube has been mostly left alone by Russian bigwigs, it did see a significant slowdown during the summer. On November 14, Internet monitors reported that YouTube appeared to have returned to normal speeds inside Russia.
Regulators have also explored other options for controlling the content available on the RuNet, such as using sophisticated monitoring equipment, forcing tech companies to make their servers accessible to Russian regulators, and putting the squeeze on large Internet providers until they are sold to owners more willing to play ball with the government.
This is certainly not the first time Apple has bowed to the will of the Russian government. In April 2021, Apple was forced to recommend Russian apps on its devices sold inside Russian borders. Initially, companies would be required to pre-install the apps, but it was later decided that companies should instead offer a list of Russian-sanctioned apps that would appear as “suggested apps” during the initial device set up process.
