Oh, sorry, we thought you wanted us to obey the law?! – Silicon Valley
A tactical-voting app built by allies of Vladimir Putin’s jailed political opponent Alexei Navalny is now unavailable in Russian Apple and Google app stores following threats of fines from the Kremlin. According to state-owned news agency TASS, Russian lawmaker Andrei Klimov told reporters on Thursday that the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office sent statutory notices to Google and Apple ordering a takedown of the Navalny app on the grounds it was collecting personal data of Russian citizens and sought to interfere in the nation’s elections. Refusal to do so would result in penalties. “The app particularly deliberately and illegally spreads election campaign materials in the interests of some candidates vying for positions in elective agencies or against the interests of such,» Klimov said. Apple and Google, which say they comply with local laws where they operate, removed the app in Russia, willingly or unwillingly contributing to what Navalny’s supporters called political censorship in Russia. The app remains available outside the country. Those in Russia who already have the application may still be able to use it. With the app stores out of the way, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov took time to throw some shade at the US government. «We have reason to believe that the US authorities are also not completely helpless on this particular issue,» Lavrov stated.
