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The scale of VPN removals in Russia is larger than previously reported, as VPN apps continue to disappear from the local Apple App Store.
This is a worrying finding from an exclusive report from the App Censorship Project, which found that 60 apps, including some of the top VPN services on the market, were quietly removed by Apple between early July and September 18, 2024. Russia’s censorship agency Roskomnadzor recognized only 25 VPN apps.
While the Kremlin has been targeting VPN tools for more than a few months, the recent wave of removals began on July 4, when at least four VPN apps reportedly disappeared from Apple’s local App Store. In early September, 50 human rights organizations, media outlets, IT companies, journalistic groups, and public figures wrote an open letter calling on Apple to “immediately restore” VPN apps to the Russian App Store. At the time, however, experts still believed the number of removed VPN apps was estimated at 29.
“Apple’s silent removal of nearly 60 VPN apps from the Russian App Store is not just alarming – it is a direct threat to digital freedom and privacy,” said Benjamin Ismail, director of the App Censorship Project.
Researchers used data from the App Store Monitor (ASM) on AppleCensorship.com – a platform put together by GreatFire experts to monitor the availability of apps in Apple App Stores – to verify Roskomnadzor’s claims and assess the current number of VPNs in Russia that are not available in the local Apple App Store.
A total of 360 VPN applications were tested in 175 app stores worldwide. As of September 16, 2024, 98 VPN Apps were not available in the Russian App Store. These include some TechRadar favorites such as NordVPN, ExpressVPN, and Proton VPN.
Did you know?
A VPN (virtual private network) is security software that encrypts internet connections and spoofs users’ IP addresses to allow them access to geo-restricted content. That latter ability is precisely why people in Russia are forced to use VPN apps to bypass online restrictions – exactly what the Kremlin wants to prevent.
These results shed new light on the scale of VPN censorship in Russia. For starters, the report reveals a significant discrepancy between the number of removed applications that authorities acknowledged (25) and the actual number (around 60), suggesting that the scale of VPN removals is much larger.
Researchers also tracked removal patterns to see how they were concentrated on specific dates, suggesting coordinated actions. Overall, the findings show that Apple “continues to remove VPN apps from the Russian App Store without public acknowledgement, affecting over 20% of identified VPN apps,” the report said.
According to Ismail, Apple actively shares the blame for helping the Kremlin censor the web. “By unilaterally restricting access to these essential tools without transparency or due process, Apple is complicit in enabling government censorship. We demand that Apple uphold its commitment to human rights and provide a clear explanation for these actions.”
Russia and VPNs
Both Freedom House And Reporters Without Borders (RSF) rank Russia as one of the worst countries for internet freedom. This is due to the high level of internet censorship that has increased since the invasion of Ukraine began.
Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly known as Twitter) are only accessible via a VPN service, along with an ever-growing list of websites, including news sites and even official sites of some VPN providers. Since March, a new law in Russia criminalizes the dissemination of information about ways to circumvent internet restrictions. All of this makes the silent VPN takedowns that have been taking place on the Russian Apple App Store since July a more serious problem.
“VPNs are lifelines for journalists, activists, and everyday citizens seeking access to information and secure communication,” said Evan Greer, executive director of Fight for the Future. “Apple’s actions not only undermine the privacy and security of millions, but also set a dangerous precedent for how tech companies can collaborate with authoritarian regimes.”
However, as previously mentioned, Russia’s actions against VPN services are not new, as VPN apps were already disappearing before the war in Ukraine began. Specifically, researchers found that 32 VPN apps were already unavailable before July 2024. Of those, 14 applications had already been removed before February 2022.
Apple has removed four VPN service apps from the Russian AppStore: Proton VPN, Red Shield VPN, NordVPN and Le VPN. According to a message published by Red Shield and Le VPN, the company is referring to Roskomnadzor, Russia’s internet watchdog pic.twitter.com/BLuehvjn1hJuly 4, 2024
The released data suggests that we are seeing a rapid escalation in Russia’s VPN actions. More than a dozen apps were attacked between July 4 and 7 alone, including ExpressVPN and CyberGhost. As of August 11, around 30 other applications are no longer available in the local App Store.
According to researchers, the concentration of these removals over a period of time suggests that providers are not the ones deliberately pulling their service from the country. “If it is voluntary, it would be highly unlikely that multiple VPN owners independently decide to pull their apps from Russia on the same specific days,” the report said.
What is being done?
That is why experts are now calling on both Roskomnadzor and Apple for more transparency about the policies and measures surrounding the removal of apps.
“Apple can no longer claim that this is not their concern or that they are simply complying with local laws. As a highly visible and influential company, Apple should own up to the image it creates by cooperating with censors,” Sarkis Darbinian, a cyber lawyer at Russian digital rights advocacy group Roskomsvoboda and RKS Global, told me.
“The situation has escalated to the point where anti-war songs by Russian punk and rap artists are being removed from Apple’s Russian music platform. As a result, it could lead not only to a complete technical, but also to a cultural isolation of Russians and ultimately to the triumph of propaganda,” he added. “What further concessions will Apple make to the Russian authorities?”
At the moment, the Russian Google Play Store remains unaffected by this push for VPN censorship, which could indicate that the Big Tech giant may be resisting Roskomnadzor’s demands at the time of writing.
