From April, new iPhones and other iOS devices sold in Russia will include an extra configuration step. Along with questions about language preference and whether to enable Siri, users will see a screen asking them to install a list of applications from Russian developers. It is not just a regional peculiarity. It is a concession that Apple made to Moscow’s legal pressure – which could have implications far beyond Russia’s borders.
The law in question dates back to 2019, when Russia dictated that all computers, smartphones, smart TVs and so on sold must come preloaded with a selection of state-approved applications that include browsers, messenger platforms and even antivirus services. . Apple stopped close to that; suggested apps are not preinstalled and users can choose not to download them. But the company’s decision to bend its rules to pre-installations may inspire other repressive regimes to make similar – or even more invasive – demands.
“This is in the context of years and years of increasing regulatory pressure on technology companies” in Russia, says Adrian Shahbaz, director of democracy and technology at the non-profit human rights organization Freedom House. The country has made a major effort to reshape their Internet for mass control, censorship and surveillance mechanisms. And the government has imposed increasingly stringent regulations on national technology companies. “They must store data on local servers, provide decryption keys to security agencies and remove content that violates Russian law, “says Shahbaz., although not all companies do all of this.” And now they are being forced to promote government-approved applications on their platforms. “
The pre-installed application law became known as the “Apple law” because it basically challenged Apple to withdraw entirely from the Russian market instead of changing the rules of the company’s controlled iPhone ecosystem. Instead, Apple created an exception that other companies, including Android makers, failed to catch. Google, which develops the open source Android mobile operating system, does not manufacture most of the hardware on that platform directly and does not control which applications come pre-installed on third-party devices. (Google makes the Pixel smartphone, but does not sell it in Russia.)
Mikhail Klimarev, executive director of the Internet Protection Society, a Russian non-governmental organization, says he believes the law on pre-installed applications has a dual role for the Kremlin. This creates an opportunity to promote applications that the country can monitor and control, while allowing the government to manipulate the technology market. The law will penalize and fine any supplier who sells unsupported computers and smartphones, rather than the manufacturers who made them – unless, of course, the company also sells its products directly in Russia, as Apple does.
“The fact is that the responsibility for the infraction does not lie with the seller, but with the shopkeeper,” says Klimarev. “In that case, the law [will be used] to destroy small salespeople. And then the big distributors will increase their prices. In Russia, many absurd laws have been adopted recently, which is technically impractical. “
The situation with Russia’s mandatory applications is not the first time that Apple has faced invasive legal requirements from an authoritarian government – nor the first time that the company has given in to these demands. Notably, to continue operating in China, Apple has agreed to use a home cloud provider to store its Chinese customers’ iCloud data and encryption keys. And Apple removes apps from its Chinese iOS App Store when the government demands it. Accommodation for Russian applications during setup, however, is a new frontier in Apple’s interactions with repressive governments.
“This is part of a broader trend that we have seen in countries like Iran, Turkey and India,” said Shahbaz, of Freedom House. “The authorities are channeling frustration with popular foreign applications while promoting domestic equivalents where data and speech are more tightly controlled by the government. It is a bait and exchange. “
From both an economic and national security point of view, it is understandable to some extent that governments want to promote domestic software to their own citizens. But in practice, the growing balkanization of the internet is eroding internet freedom around the world and undermining the whole concept of a decentralized and global web.