Apple bans Russian Facebook from the App Store
Apple has banned several apps from the Russian internet group VK from its App Store. Among them is the social network VKontakte, popular in Russia, which resembles a Facebook clone. Apple cited British sanctions against Russian oligarchs as the reason for the move.
Due to the British government’s sanctions against Russia, Apple has banned several apps from the Russian Internet company VK from its App Store. That goes from a short statements of the Saint Petersburg-based company.
Accordingly, users can currently neither download nor update the affected apps. This also applies to the popular Russian social network VKontakte, which comes across as a Facebook clone. However, according to VK, apps already installed on the smartphone would still work.
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Contacts: Apple confirms ban on Russian Facebook clone
Meanwhile, Apple confirmed the ban on Russian apps to Tech Magazine The Verge. The iPhone group has therefore both removed the apps from its App Store and blocked the corresponding developer accounts. Company spokesman Adam Dema said:
These apps are distributed by developers majority owned or controlled by one or more parties sanctioned by the UK government Telegram founder Pavel Durov also founded VK
Telegram founder Pavel Durov also founded VK
In order to comply with the sanctions, Apple also closed the developer accounts. All VK apps could also no longer be downloaded regardless of location. However, Dema confirmed that all the applications already downloaded are still usable.
The Russian concern VK was founded in 2006 by Pavel Durov. It is considered the second largest Internet company after Yandex, the Russian equivalent of Google. After Durov refused to cooperate with the authorities, he left VK. It now runs the messenger service Telegram.
VKontakte: 5th most popular site in Russia
The fact that Apple has banned VK’s apps from its App Store means that iPhone users worldwide will no longer be able to access the VKontakte application, which is the fifth most popular website in Russia.
This also applies to the Mail.ru, VK Music and Youla Classifieds apps. However, the corresponding websites can still be reached via the browser. However, limited functions or malfunctions could occur there.
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