The App Store is a powerful digital ecosystem.
The Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty news app has been removed from the App Store in Russia, in another case of the state mandating what apps are allowed.
The move comes less than a month after the Russian authorities had Apple remove Current Time, the independent media service and website run by the same Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) organization. According to RFE/RL, Apple notified the organization of the app’s removal following a request by Russian media regulator Roskomnadzor.
In that previous case, Roskomnadzor is reported to have told Apple that the app contained “undesirable” material. This time, the regulator 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 US Congress, via a grant from the United States Agency for Global Media. It was reportedly placed on Russia’s list of “undesirable organizations” in February 2024.
“[This is] yet another example of how the Russian government sees truthful reporting as an existential threat,” said RFE/RL president Stephen Capus at the time.
Apple has not commented on this specific case, nor the most recent one regarding RFE/RL’s Current Time app. As an international business, though, it will always have to abide by the laws of the countries it operates in.
It is because of a Russian law that US firms operating in the country have been required to open local offices. Apple opened a corporate office there in February 2022.
