How western companies are enabling Russian censors
The invasion of Ukraine has turned Russia into a digital totalitarian state: access to independent reliable information is diminishing by the day and any form of dissent comes at an increasingly high cost. Today, more than ever before, millions of Russians could benefit from Apple’s tool that allows users to browse the internet privately. But it is not available in Russia.
iCloud Private Relay hides a user’s IP address from sites they’re visiting, so that a server doesn’t know both who the user is and what they’re searching for or which websites they’re using. A vital tool for people concerned about their digital privacy, especially those living in authoritarian states.
And yet, Apple’s iCloud Private Relay isn’t available in some of the countries that need it most, like Turkmenistan and Belarus.
But it used to be available in Russia. Then in the leadup to parliamentary elections in 2021, Apple caved to Kremlin pressure and removed opposition leader Alexei Navalny's voting app from the App Store. Around the same time, the company disabled the Private Relay tool in the country.