Russia’s largest social network has been removed from Apple’s App Store after international backlash to “sham” referendums in occupied Ukraine.
Hasty referendums regarding Russian annexation took place in occupied areas of Ukraine between 23 and 27 September.
Russian officials have reported a wide margin of votes in favour of the territories joining Russia, with reported tallies ranging from 87% to 99% in favour of annexation.
In addition to international media and government criticism of this referendum, the United Kingdom released a statement on 26 September calling the vote an “illegal sham” and announcing new sanctions.
These new sanctions target Russian officials involved in the referendum, as well as a wider net of oligarchs and businesses.
Apple has since removed apps from its iOS App Store belonging to VK, the technology group behind Russia’s version of Facebook called VKontakte.
Apple spokesperson Adam Dema said in a statement to The Verge: “These apps are being distributed by developers majority-owned or majority-controlled by one or more parties sanctioned by the UK government. In order to comply with these sanctions, Apple terminated the developer accounts associated with these apps, and the apps cannot be downloaded from any App Store, regardless of location. Users who have already downloaded these apps may continue to use them.”
This removal affects not just the app for VKontakte (which is the fifth most visited site in Russia) but other apps from the VK group such as Mail.ru and VK Music.
As of 28 September, these apps are still available on Google’s Play Store.
IOL Tech