Apple and Google reportedly submit to Russian censor

According to a tweet by Roskomnadzor, the Kremlin's media watchdog, Apple and Google have deleted from their app stores content that Russian officials labeled extremist.

Roskomnadzor’s press secretary, Vadim Ampelonsky, told the website TJournal that the agency had sent emails to Apple and Google notifying them that content on their app stores had been banned in Russia. On May 22, Roskomnadzor says it received written confirmation from both Apple and Google that the content had been removed.

On May 21, the media learned that applications containing “extremist” books, available through Google Play and the App Store, have been prohibited in Russia, following a decision by a court in Stavropol. Roskomnadzor started enforcing the new ban on May 20.

According to Russian newspaper Izvestia, the court ruling concerns two books by Sa’id Wahf Al-Qahtani, available through the App Store and through Google Play: Fortress of the Muslim: Invocations from the Quran and Sunnah and Fortress of the Muslim: addressing Allah through prayer. Healing through spells in the Quran and Sunnah.

Update: according to various reports, both books are still available in Russia on both the App Store and Google Play, contrary to Roskomnadzor's announcement.

According to Roskomnadzor’s own estimates, 30 percent of Russian Internet service providers are incapable of blocking specific pages on a website, when sites use HTTPS, as both Apple and Google do.