In Russia, the internet is strictly controlled and censored. For this reason, Russian internet users often use VPN services to bypass restrictions and access blocked content. The country's communications watchdog has ordered Apple to ban some VPN apps used to access content labeled illegal in Russia, including NordVPN, Proton VPN, Red Shield VPN, Planet VPN, Hidemy.Name VPN, Le VPN and PIA VPN is banned.
25 VPN apps removed from Russian App Store
Apple said in emails to VPN providers: “At the request of Roskomnadzor, we are writing to inform you that your app will be removed from the Russian App Store because it contains content that is illegal in Russia and does not comply with app review rules. . If you need more information about this removal or the laws and requirements in Russia, we recommend that you contact Roskomnadzor directly. Although your app has been removed from the Russian App Store, it is still available in the App Stores of other regions that you selected in App Store Connect.”
Red Shield, one of the companies whose apps were removed, said: “Red Shield VPN has been subject to blocking attempts by Russian authorities since 2018. We challenged the blocking in the Russian courts and, as expected, lost in all cases. Later, we filed a case with the ECHR, and this case is still under investigation."
Why is VPN banned in Russia?
Although Putin signed a bill banning VPN services, proxies, and Tor in July 2017, Russian authorities have requested Roskomnadzor to order 10 VPN providers to submit their systems to Russia's State Information System (FGIS) to automatically block users' access to blocked sites. block them. It wasn't implemented until March 2019, they have to join. At that time, only Kaspersky connected its systems to FGIS.
About a year later, Roskomnadzor blocked email services ProtonVPN and ProtonMail, saying that cybercriminals were using VPNs to send bomb threats. More than six VPNs were banned in June 2021, including Opera VPN, Cloudflare, Betternet.
