The movement of detained political leader Alexei Navalny has accused Google and Apple of yielding to the will of the Russian government, Vladimir Putin.
After Google and Apple removed from their stores this Friday (17) an app linked to political leader Alexei Navalny, who is being held in a high security chain, the leader’s actions accused the company of “censorship.”
In a post on Telegram, Navalny’s team stated that
“The entire Russian state and even large technology companies are opposed to us, but this does not mean that we are going to concede.”…
Alexei Navalny has accused Google and Apple of yielding to the Russian government after the Kremlin accused two tech companies of meddling in Russia’s internal affairs.
The app, linked to political leader Alexei Navalny, was a service helping to record votes against President Vladimir Putin in parliamentary elections that began this Friday and will continue until tomorrow (Sunday).
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The disappearance of the app shortly after the vote began after authorities threatened to sue local company employees. The Kremlin is pressuring to take control of the internet in the country, where they have even publicly named who will be prosecuted.
In response, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the two tech companies only comply with Russian law. “This application is prohibited in our country“.
As for Google and Apple, an unnamed source said Apple had withdrawn the app after “threats of detention” against its employees in Russia.
Hours later, Google announced that it had withdrawn the app due to “extreme coercion” by the Russian government.
According to a source close to the case, the companies “received serious threats of prosecution and imprisonment for local officials.”
Notably, Russia recently echoed warnings from tech companies refusing to remove content deemed illegal in the country, as well as from Navalny’s movement.
