Apple Drops VKontakte from Its App Store Amid Ongoing Restrictions

Moscow: Apple has removed VKontakte, one of Russia’s largest social networks, from its App Store and the Kremlin has demanded an explanation from the California-based tech giant, the Russian company said on Thursday.

VKontakte (VK) was founded in 2006 as Russia’s answer to Facebook and has since become one of the country’s most popular websites and social media platforms.

“Apple removed VK apps from the App Store without any warning or explanation. VK Group apps can no longer be downloaded or updated on Apple devices,” VK, VKontakte’s parent company, said in a statement. he said.

“Apple is restricting Russian users’ access to popular services used daily by tens of millions of people, including social networks, messaging applications, video platforms, email and educational products,” the statement said. The statement was included.

The move follows a similar decision by Apple earlier this month to remove the state-backed Max messenger developed by VK from the App Store.

Moscow has been pushing Russians to install Max for months and has restricted the country’s two biggest messaging apps, WhatsApp and Telegram, forcing government agencies to move their communications to Max.

The Kremlin called Apple’s decision to remove VKontakte “bizarre.”

“Our relevant authority will contact the service and demand an explanation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, including AFP. he said.

“Naturally, this raises questions about the reliability of the service and the extent to which it can be trusted as a service provider,” he added.