Apple removes another VPN service from Russian App Store

Apple has again yielded to Russian censorship demands, removing the independent Amnezia VPN from its App Store in Russia under claims of “illegal” content.

Apple informed the Amnezia VPN developers just before midnight on October 30th that their app would be removed from the Russian App Store at the request of Russia’s censorship body, Roskomnadzor.

Less than four hours later, the app was no longer available. According to Apple Censorship, a platform that tracks App Store removals worldwide, Amnezia VPN was taken down from the Russian store in the early hours of October 31st.

According to Roskomsvoboda, a Russian digital rights group, the removal is “another confirmation of how lightning-fast Apple is in fulfilling censors' demands.” Apple has removed dozens of VPN apps this year.

“For companies whose apps are removed, there is no time or opportunity to challenge the requests of the Russian authorities,” said Roskomsvoboda.

Amnezia is free software that allows users to bypass internet censorship by creating a personal VPN using their own server and harder-to-detect protocols.

“Apple is assisting the Russian authorities in their censorship and doing so in a matter of hours, without detailed consideration of the issue, and without the right to appeal or protest,” Roskomsvoboda said in a statement shared with Cybernews.

Cybernews has reached out to Apple for comment. The Cupertino-based company has yet to publicly address its app removal practices in Russia.

In an email to the Amnezia VPN developers, Apple said that the app would be removed “per demand from Roskomnadzor” because it includes content “that is illegal in Russia” and thus is not compliant with the company’s guidelines.

According to Apple, apps “must comply with all legal requirements in any location where you make them available,” adding that “we know this stuff is complicated.”

Pleas to Apple fall on deaf ears

Apple officially quit Russia and suspended sales there following Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. However, its products are still widely available in Russia and remain very popular among even government officials.

Following the invasion, the Russian government blocked or severely restricted Russians’ access to independent or foreign sources of information and many have flocked to VPNs to circumvent these restrictions.

In 2023, the number of VPN users in Russia increased by 37% year over year and 2.5 times compared to 2021.

Russia tightened its VPN laws early in 2024, outlawing providers that do not block access to websites blacklisted by the Kremlin, including independent news media outlets and major global platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, or X.

This led to a mass removal of VPN providers from the Russian App Store, with one estimate putting the total number of takedowns close to 100. Red Shield VPN, Le VPN, and AdGuard VPN were among those removed.

In September, over 50 human rights organizations, media outlets, and tech companies pleaded with Apple in an open letter to “stop censoring” the Russian internet. The letter said that app removals contradicted the company’s own commitment to the principles of human rights and freedoms.