Russia regulator demands answers for VK removal from the App Store

Posted:
in iOS
Following Apple's removal of VKontakte from the App Store, Russian regulators are saying that it will impair communications between its citizens, and are demanding answers.

Logo for Apple's App Store
Logo for Apple's App Store


VKontakte is Russia's largest social network app. Following Apple's removal of the app on September 28, Russian regulators at Roskomnadzor has taken issue with the action, calling it "discriminatory."

VK, the company behind the app, posted a statement about the matter on Monday and said other apps removed included Mail.ru, VK Music, and Youla classified. The statement says the apps will continue working on compatible devices and have only been removed from the App Store.

Still, users may experience problems with features such as notifications and payments.

After the removal, Apple said that it is complying with sanctions, imposed over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Developers owned or controlled by these sanctioned parties were outside of Russia, and had their developer accounts terminated by Apple because they were apparently skirting the international sanctions.

Apple customers in all locations are affected by the decision, not just those in Russia.

As a report from Reuters pointed out on Wednesday, Roskomnadzor is the chief regulatory body in Russia that interfaces with US tech giants. It forced Apple to remove an opposition leader's app from the App Store, only restored after the war in Ukraine broke out.

In 2015, it also forced Apple to host iCloud data generated within Russia, in the country. Roskomnadzor has also caused problems for Telegram, Microsoft, Google, and others.

In February, Apple opened its first corporate office in Russia, and in March stopped all online sales in the country after its government's invasion of Ukraine. Sales have not yet resumed.

Read on AppleInsider
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 32
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    "After the removal, Apple said that it is complying with sanctions, imposed over Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Developers owned or controlled by these sanctioned parties were outside of Russia, and had their developer accounts terminated by Apple because they were apparently skirting the international sanctions.”

    Finally Apple shows it has a least one testicle. Russia should be treated as the international pariah it has become. And those who ignore the sanctions should expect no quarter given. Screw those developers skirting the sanctions. Putin is a repeat of Hitler. He thinks the West will give in and is weak. Hitler called the western democracies “dirty worms” who would not oppose him. Putin thinks the same. Who knows, maybe the West will give in to him. Maybe the West is weak and unwilling to fight, ready to appease. China is watching and the fate of Taiwan hangs in the balance. If Putin wins China gets a clear signal they can take Taiwan without a fight, even if Biden says we will.
    DAalsethcpsroracerhomie3baconstangOferfotoformatqwerty52darkvaderJaiOh81
  • Reply 2 of 32
    Russian regulators at Roskomnadzor has taken issue with the action, calling it "discriminatory."
    Um. Duh? That's exactly the point.
    DAalsethcpsroFileMakerFellerolsqwerty52darkvaderStrangeDaysJaiOh81watto_cobra
  • Reply 3 of 32
    Russian regulators are likely as incompetant as their crazy leader. Putin ought to be delighted the citizenry can't organize their coup as easily!
    DAalsethFileMakerFellerqwerty52darkvaderwatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 32
    Thank God US is not a authoritative nation. Trump wanted to ban WeChat, TikTok from US. He did not succeed. On this point US is superior to China. 
    DAalsethwilliamlondonOferqwerty52darkvader
  • Reply 5 of 32
    red oakred oak Posts: 1,087member
    “Demanding answers”.  Lol.  They are in no position to ask for anything

     Do they have any understanding how f****** they and their country are for the next 50 years?
    DAalsethcpsrobaconstangolsfotoformatqwerty52darkvaderravnorodomwatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 32
    red oakred oak Posts: 1,087member
    Thank God US is not a authoritative nation. Trump wanted to ban WeChat, TikTok from US. He did not succeed. On this point US is superior to China. 
    China bans Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp.   Why should the US not ban TikTok and WeChat?   Do you not read any of the reports of how China is using these as vehicles to spy on people in the US? 
    racerhomie3williamlondonbaconstangFileMakerFellerJanNLqwerty52williamhigorskywatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 32
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,241member
    red oak said:
    Thank God US is not a authoritative nation. Trump wanted to ban WeChat, TikTok from US. He did not succeed. On this point US is superior to China. 
    China bans Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp.   Why should the US not ban TikTok and WeChat?   Do you not read any of the reports of how China is using these as vehicles to spy on people in the US? 
    Just like the NSA and FBI are spying on everyone in the USA. All governments spy on each other and their own country.
    williamlondonbloggerblogFileMakerFellerAlex_Vuraharafreeassociate2JaiOh81watto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 32
    Reason: You invaded the Ukraine.
    badmonkolsAlex_Vuraharadarkvaderwatto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 32
    cpsrocpsro Posts: 3,192member
    Thank God US is not a authoritative nation. Trump wanted to ban WeChat, TikTok from US. He did not succeed. On this point US is superior to China. 
    Thanks to a popular "TikTok Challenge", the U.S. has suffered a lengthy rash of thefts of Kia vehicles and crash-and-grab heists at jewelry stores and gunshops. I doubt China cared to suppress these videos.
    williamlondonFileMakerFellerwatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 32
    red oak said:
    Thank God US is not a authoritative nation. Trump wanted to ban WeChat, TikTok from US. He did not succeed. On this point US is superior to China. 
    China bans Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp.   Why should the US not ban TikTok and WeChat?   Do you not read any of the reports of how China is using these as vehicles to spy on people in the US? 
    People have been spied by Facebook apps all the time. This is a built in feature of information age. Apple and Google are trying hard to protect us. 
    FileMakerFellerJaiOh81watto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 32
    rob53 said:
    red oak said:
    Thank God US is not a authoritative nation. Trump wanted to ban WeChat, TikTok from US. He did not succeed. On this point US is superior to China. 
    China bans Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp.   Why should the US not ban TikTok and WeChat?   Do you not read any of the reports of how China is using these as vehicles to spy on people in the US? 
    Just like the NSA and FBI are spying on everyone in the USA. All governments spy on each other and their own country.
    Since you aren't indicating what you are talking about, (your post is not informative) I will infer that you are talking about the metadata collection program which was judged by the US courts in 2015 to be illegal (not inherently unconstitutional, but only illegal because Congress didn't require it) and then shut down. Do you consider it illegal for the government to enforce traffic laws using smart cameras on public roads? I haven't got an opinion on that. I really don't know what kind of information is so public that the US government is permitted to track it. They already record people's names, ages and photographs for various purposes like passports. This kind of data collection is obviously legal. In your opinion, what is the complete set of public data that the government is allowed to collect on US citizens? 

    Since Americans are voluntarily handing over their DNA to private companies by the millions (and paying for it) that will probably suffice as the next big tracking database which the government will be allowed to access via warrants. Metadata is nothing by comparison to this. Since some of these companies are not based in the US, warrants may not even be required, just payment (you won't even have to be a police agency to purchase the data.) You don't even need to be in a DNA database for the government to be able to find your identity from a DNA sample; all that is required is for even one of your relatives to have submitted their DNA for analysis. Once the FBI has the name of the relative of a suspect, they can track down the suspect with some regular detective work.

    Your last sentence tells me that you believe governments around the world are all operating against their own laws, and that they all probably are involved in vast conspiracies against their own people. I can agree with you if you are talking about China and Russia, but grouping the USA with them is silly.
    baconstangFileMakerFellerJaiOh81watto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 32
    DAalsethDAalseth Posts: 2,783member
    Why did Apple remove this Russian App?
    Because F-You that’s why.
    darren mccoydarkvaderwatto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 32
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    rob53 said:
    red oak said:
    Thank God US is not a authoritative nation. Trump wanted to ban WeChat, TikTok from US. He did not succeed. On this point US is superior to China. 
    China bans Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp.   Why should the US not ban TikTok and WeChat?   Do you not read any of the reports of how China is using these as vehicles to spy on people in the US? 
    Just like the NSA and FBI are spying on everyone in the USA. All governments spy on each other and their own country.
    Equating U.S. security organizations with the brutal, murderous, vicious secret police and assassination squads of Putin's FSB/SVR and China’s MSS is about as dumb as it gets. What a useful idiot.
    DAalsethbaconstangred oakqwerty52darkvaderwatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 32
    lkrupp said:
    rob53 said:
    red oak said:
    Thank God US is not a authoritative nation. Trump wanted to ban WeChat, TikTok from US. He did not succeed. On this point US is superior to China. 
    China bans Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp.   Why should the US not ban TikTok and WeChat?   Do you not read any of the reports of how China is using these as vehicles to spy on people in the US? 
    Just like the NSA and FBI are spying on everyone in the USA. All governments spy on each other and their own country.
    Equating U.S. security organizations with the brutal, murderous, vicious secret police and assassination squads of Putin's FSB/SVR and China’s MSS is about as dumb as it gets. What a useful idiot.
    We’ve had our disagreements in the past but on this we are on the same page. Comparing the FBI today to the FSB is like comparing the FBI under Edger Hoover (Which admittedly crossed the line at times) with the SS or the Stazi. It’s just stupid. 
    FileMakerFellerqwerty52darkvaderwatto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 32
    DAalseth said:
    lkrupp said:
    rob53 said:
    red oak said:
    Thank God US is not a authoritative nation. Trump wanted to ban WeChat, TikTok from US. He did not succeed. On this point US is superior to China. 
    China bans Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp.   Why should the US not ban TikTok and WeChat?   Do you not read any of the reports of how China is using these as vehicles to spy on people in the US? 
    Just like the NSA and FBI are spying on everyone in the USA. All governments spy on each other and their own country.
    Equating U.S. security organizations with the brutal, murderous, vicious secret police and assassination squads of Putin's FSB/SVR and China’s MSS is about as dumb as it gets. What a useful idiot.
    We’ve had our disagreements in the past but on this we are on the same page. Comparing the FBI today to the FSB is like comparing the FBI under Edger Hoover (Which admittedly crossed the line at times) with the SS or the Stazi. It’s just stupid. 
    I agree with you. A Chinese professor at MIT was prosecuted under Trump's China Initiative. US Judicial system exonerated him this year. 
    DAalsethdarkvader
  • Reply 16 of 32
    DAalseth said:
    lkrupp said:
    rob53 said:
    red oak said:
    Thank God US is not a authoritative nation. Trump wanted to ban WeChat, TikTok from US. He did not succeed. On this point US is superior to China. 
    China bans Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp.   Why should the US not ban TikTok and WeChat?   Do you not read any of the reports of how China is using these as vehicles to spy on people in the US? 
    Just like the NSA and FBI are spying on everyone in the USA. All governments spy on each other and their own country.
    Equating U.S. security organizations with the brutal, murderous, vicious secret police and assassination squads of Putin's FSB/SVR and China’s MSS is about as dumb as it gets. What a useful idiot.
    We’ve had our disagreements in the past but on this we are on the same page. Comparing the FBI today to the FSB is like comparing the FBI under Edger Hoover (Which admittedly crossed the line at times) with the SS or the Stazi. It’s just stupid. 
    I agree with you. A Chinese professor at MIT was prosecuted under Trump's China Initiative. US Judicial system exonerated him this year. 
    Over 99% of the time the case was in federal court occurred under Biden's tenure, not Trump's. Biden didn't cancel the case. And you choose to attack Trump.
    JanNLlkrupp
  • Reply 17 of 32
    Sorry … we no longer do business in Russia.

    Please express your concerns to the grey marketers illicitly bring our phones into Russia.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 32
    I agree with you. A Chinese professor at MIT was prosecuted under Trump's China Initiative. US Judicial system exonerated him this year. 
    Over 99% of the time the case was in federal court occurred under Biden's tenure, not Trump's. Biden didn't cancel the case. And you choose to attack Trump.

    Do you have any idea, at all, of how the US justice system works?
    muthuk_vanalingamDAalsethdarkvader13485watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 32
    xbitxbit Posts: 390member
    I find it interesting that these apps have been removed due to UK sanctions. Imagine being outfoxed by this British government. What an embarrassing situation for Russia.
    edited September 2022 darkvaderwatto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 32
    Be interesting to see how Apple responds if / when China ever moves against Taiwan. Can't imagine Apple's morality being strong enough to ban all sales in that cash cow (China), but we may soon find out!
    darkvaderlkrupp
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