Google and Apple remove the Navalny app from their platforms. Alphabet removed jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny’s tactical voting app from its stores, his team said Friday after Russia accused the U.S. tech firms of meddling in its internal affairs.
Google and Apple remove Navalny app from stores as Russian elections begin
Russia will go to the polls on Friday to choose a new parliament in three days, in a vote that is expected to favor United Russia despite declining popularity after the most severe crackdown on Kremlin critics in years.
Allies of Navalny, President Vladimir Putin’s fiercest domestic opponent, planned to use the mobile app to organize a tactical voting campaign to deal a blow to United Russia.
Russia demanded this month that Apple and Google remove the app from their stores, saying that refusing to do so would be treated as meddling in its parliamentary elections.
Apple and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On Thursday, Russia said official approaches had been made to the CEOs of the two companies. Ivan Zhdanov, a Navalny ally abroad, said Friday that the removal amounted to political censorship.
