Apple and Google accused of'shameful act of political censorship'

Apple and Google stand accused of political censorship after the companies removed an app created by imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny under pressure from the Kremlin.

The app, which encouraged Russians to vote strategically for opposition candidates that were most likely to defeat members of Putin's ruling party, disappeared from the companies shelves on Friday — the same day polls opened in the country s parliamentary elections.

Navalny, a close friend and adviser to Ivan Zhdanov, accused the companies of a shameful act of political censorship in a series of tweets Friday.

Putin s authoritarian government and propaganda will be pleased, he added.

Zhdanov also shared what he said was an email from Apple about the app removal.

We are writing to notify you that your application will be removed from the Russia App Store because it contains content that is illegal in Russia, Apple reportedly said, adding that Navalny s group had been deemed an extremist group by the Russian government.

Apple and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Both companies had been under intense pressure from Russian authorities to remove the app in the lead-up of the elections. The government argued that refusing to do so would be considered Russian interference in the Foreign Elections.

The US ambassador to Russia, John Sullivan, would have done so over the issue, reported the Associated Press.

Microsoft also visited s offices of Google in Moscow on Monday to enforce a court order to block Navalny s app, according to the outlet.

Seit February, when he returned from Germany to Russia after receiving medical treatment for a poisoning that he has been attributed to Vladimir Putin, his sentence was returned to Germany. The United States and European Union also denied the assassination attempt on Putin, but the Russian leader pinned it down.

It is not the first time Apple and Google have been accused of betraying pro-democracy activists and caving to authoritarian governments.

In 2019, Apple removed two apps that pro-democracy protestors in Hong Kong had used to track and dodge police — just one day after China state-run People's Daily newspaper accused the company of being an accomplice to the rioters. Google, meanwhile, has removed a game from its Hong Kong Google Play store that allowed users to play as a protester. The search giant, Reuters reported that The Revolution of Our Times violated its content rules because it depicted sensitive events.