Russia asked Apple on Wednesday for an explanation after the VKontakte app operated by Russian technology company VK was removed from the U.S. Apple App Store. Russia's communications regulator, Roskomnadzor, said in a statement that the restrictions were discriminatory and violated Russian internet users' right to free information and communication. VK operates VKontakte, a Russian social media platform similar to Facebook.
VKontakte is the largest social network app in Russia with hundreds of millions of downloads. Development company VK said today that VKontakte has been removed from the Apple App Store. VK said in a statement that some VK applications are now blocked by Apple, so they cannot be downloaded and updated in the App Store, and installed applications can continue to run and be used on Apple devices.
In a statement, an Apple spokesperson confirmed that the apps had been removed and VK developer access had been revoked following the recent U.K. sanctions on Russia:
"These apps are distributed by developers that are owned or majority-controlled by one or more political parties approved by the UK government. In compliance with these sanctions, Apple has terminated the developer accounts associated with these apps and made them unavailable from wherever they are located. Any App Store to download these apps. Users who have already downloaded these apps can continue to use them.”
Russia's Ministry of Digital Affairs confirmed in a statement that it was still investigating the matter.
Not only does VK have a social networking app, it also has a Play Store alternative called RuStore, and was the company behind the Mail.ru, VK Music, and Youla classifieds, and now VKontakte has been removed from the App Store. For now, Google has not followed Apple's lead in removing the VK app from the Google Play Store, and it's unclear if it will do so in the future.