running since 2022 Russia-Ukraine As part of the war, many technology giants shut down their operations in Russia. Apple was one of them. While the company has suspended sales of its products, it has also discontinued services such as Apple Pay. However, the App Store continued to function. Users in the country also turned to VPNs due to the sanctions.

Now a development has taken place that has brought Apple under a storm of criticism. The company complies with the wishes of the Russian government. It turned out that VPN applications in Russia had been removed.

60 VPNs removed from the App Store in Russia in summer 2024

The removal of VPN apps was discovered by a report published by GreatFire based on AppleCensorship data. Accordingly, the company 60 VPNs in the summer of 2024 alone It was quietly removed from the App Store in Russia. It has been total since the start of the war 98 apps It has been reported that it has been removed.

Among the removed applications are legal and reliable VPN providers such as ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Proton, Norton Secure. It is also notable that many more VPNs have been removed than the 25 VPNs banned by Russia. Apple’s approach with his statements about censorship under criticism. Many say they are concerned about the company’s role and transparency in censorship in the country.

GreatFire’s Benjamin Israel calls Apple’s removal of 60 VPN apps not only alarming, but also ““a direct threat to digital freedom and privacy.” He described it as. He added that the company’s completely unilateral restriction of access to applications without transparency and legal procedures is no different from government censorship and unacceptable. He also underlined the need for a statement from the company.

There is no official statement from Apple on this subject yet. The company probably Comply with strict Russian Internet laws These VPNs removed for. In his previous statements he had already stated that countries are obliged to adhere to their rules. Many services, from Apple Music to Apple TV+, are still active in Russia. The company may have removed VPNs due to a government restriction so as not to lose the market completely.