Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has accused Google and Apple of “aiding” the Kremlin after the companies removed its application to vote in the country’s parliamentary elections last week.
“If anything surprised me in the last election, it was not that (President Volodymyr) falsified the results, but how obediently the omnipotent technology giants became his accomplices,” Navalny wrote on Twitter.
Apple and Google have removed the opposition-launched Smart Voting app, which gave supporters advice on how to vote against the Kremlin’s allies last Friday. Navalny’s allies accused the technology giants of “censorship.” A Kremlin critic has said that technology giants are run by “cowardly and greedy” people.
“They call for ‘making the world a better place,’ but inside they are liars and hypocrites,” he was quoted as saying by AFP.
Navalny also said he was “terribly upset and disappointed” by Pavel Durov, head of the Telegram messaging program. The smart voting bot also disappeared from the program during the election. Durov, a native of Russia, said he was following Apple and Google, which “dictate the rules of the game to developers like us.”
Sources familiar with the decision by Google and Apple said the move was made under pressure from Russian authorities, including threats to arrest local personnel of the technology giants.
The Kremlin welcomed the move, saying technology giants adhere to the “letter and spirit” of Russian law.
The Russian opposition has accused the authorities of massively falsifying the results of the vote after a three-day vote in which the ruling United Russia party won a huge majority.
The election came after mass repression of Putin’s opponents.