Telegram company founder Pawel Durow said on Saturday that he had no other choice after the decision of the two US companies. Apple and Google set “the rules of the game for developers like us,” he wrote on Telegram.
Massive pressure from the Kremlin
The two US providers deleted the opposition app for Russia on Friday under massive pressure from the Kremlin. The two US companies had removed the “Smart Voting” app from their app stores at the beginning of the general election on Friday. This means that the application that creates election recommendations for opposition alliances against the ruling party can no longer be easily installed on Android and Apple smartphones. Via the online service Telegram, which is widespread in Russia, users could initially continue to receive the recommendations of the “Smart Voting” app – this is no longer possible.
Threatened to be deleted from app stores
Apple and Google asked Telegram to remove content that violated the laws of individual countries, wrote Durow. Otherwise the Telegram app threatens the same fate as the “Smart Voting” app – deletion from the two app stores.
The removal of content related to elections is related to the Russian ban on election advertising during the polls, Durov wrote. Although he considers this to be legitimate, the app blockade by US corporations represents a “dangerous precedent” which affects “freedom of expression in Russia and worldwide”.
Moscow is said to have threatened employee arrests
Apple and Google justified the deletion of the Russian opposition’s election recommendation app with “unprecedented” pressure from Moscow. Informed circles at both companies said the Russian government had threatened to arrest local employees.
Supporters of the imprisoned Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny accused the US companies of censorship. The companies had given in to “blackmailing the Kremlin,” said exiled Navalny confidante Leonid Volkov. The Kremlin, on the other hand, welcomed the deletion of the app.
Victory of “United Russia” de facto fixed
In the three-day election that began on Friday, the 450 seats in the Duma will be decided. Given the tough crackdown on the opposition, a victory for the ruling United Russia party is de facto certain, even though the party is faced with poor poll numbers. Already on Friday there were numerous reports of alleged electoral fraud.
