Apple has removed an app of the US-funded broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) from the AppStore in Russia in response to a demand from the country’s media regulator (Roskomnadzor).
According to RFE/RL, the US tech giant notified the outlet that the app, which hosts the Siberia.Realities and North.Realities websites, was flagged by the regulator because it hosted content made by an organization labeled as ‘undesirable’ in Russia.
Russia designated RFE/RL, initially launched as a CIA information cut-out, as a ‘foreign agent’ in 2020 and banned the broadcaster in 2022, citing “the publication of materials that contain false information” about the Ukraine conflict. The broadcaster blasted the decision, accusing Moscow of attempting to punish “truthful reporting.”
RFE/RL was set up in 1950 to spread pro-American and anti-Soviet propaganda in Europe, and was initially operated by the CIA. It continues to be funded by grants from the US Congress and its management is directly controlled by the US government.
The service specializes in producing content highly critical of Russia.
Its subsidiary, Current Time – a joint venture with Voice of America, another US government-funded news agency – was blacklisted in Russia in 2024. Last month, the Current Time app was removed from the Apple Store for non-compliance with Russian regulations.
Since 2022, the US and EU have blacklisted multiple Russian news organizations, including RT and Sputnik, accusing them of spreading ‘disinformation’. Russia responded by banning a number of Western media outlets, including the BBC.