Apple removes 60 VPN apps from Russia's App Store: what's going on

The American company Apple has removed 60 VPN-applications from the App Store of Russian users without publicity from July to September 18, 2024. They are used for confidential Internet connections, in particular, to use sites blocked in a particular country.

This was reported by the Russian media. They refer to the data of the GreatFire project, which investigates the availability of applications in different countries.

A total of 98 inaccessible applications for VPN connections were counted in the Russian App Store. Among them are the popular NordVPN, ExpressVPN, Proton VPN, Red Shield VPN, Le VPN and others.

"On July 4, Roskomnadzor said it had requested to block only 25 VPN apps. Whether the agency sent additional requests after that is unknown.

GreatFire researchers found that more than 20% of VPN apps were restricted to Russians without public notice from Apple.

Benjamin Ismail, director of the App Censorship Project at GreatFire, said such actions are aiding Kremlin censorship. "Apple's secret removal of nearly 60 VPN apps from the Russian App Store is not only alarming - it is a direct threat to digital freedom and privacy," he said.

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