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On December 22, 2022 AppleCensorship releases two reports simultaneously, both highlighting Apple’s censorship of its App Stores and the company’s many compromises with authoritarian regimes.

The first report focuses on how Apple censors in Hong Kong.  As human rights and fundamental freedoms in the territory shrink, including digital rights, Apple is reluctant to take any commitment to uphold its users rights to access information freely and express their views online. The second report looks at Apple’s presence in Russia up until the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022 and highlights the issues posed by Apple’s lack of transparency surrounding its App Store policies, including compliance with international sanctions.

Both reports highlight how far Apple is willing to go to safeguard its relationship with authoritarian regimes and maintain access to those markets.

“In the name of profit, Apple censors millions of users from all aspects of society: from activists and political figures to members of vulnerable minorities such as the LGBTQ+ community in Russia or religious and ethnic minorities in China,” said Benjamin Ismail, Director of the AppleCensorship project.&nbsp;

“<a href="https://applecensorship.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/AppleCensorship_Report_United-Apple-c.pdf" target="_self">United Apple: Apple’s censorship and compromises in Russia</a>“&nbsp;
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In AppleCensorship’s report focusing on Russia, entitled “United Apple” in reference to Russian president Vladimir Putin’s party “United Russia”, the organization has taken a deeper look at Russia’s App Store, where many LGBTQ+ related apps are blocked.

While many “Shopping”, “Finance” and “Business” apps were removed from the Russian App Store shortly after the start of the war in Ukraine, AppleCensorship’s research has revealed much more worrying trends:

●          Patterns of app removals from Russia’s App Store detected by the App Store Monitor (ASM) suggest that specific groups of apps have been targeted by the Russian authorities and that a system of Apple-enforced targeted censorship is in place in Russia’s App Store.
●          LGBTQ+ related apps constitute the most prominent type of apps being unavailable in Russia’s App Store, with at least 25 apps currently unavailable, including some of the most popular LGBTQ+ apps in the world.
●          More than 30 VPN and private browsing apps have been taken down since the start of the war in Ukraine, while the Russian authorities were announcing that “measures were being taken to limit access to VPN services that violate Russian law”.
●          Although Russia’s App Store does not reflect the present government-controlled media landscape, the list of unavailable news apps continues to grow as the App Store Monitor unveils new foreign media blocked or removed from Russia’s App Store.
●          Apple’s recent actions regarding several other apps operated by companies owned by Russian oligarchs who have been sanctioned, point towards contradictory behavior from Apple, and raise questions whether Apple’s opaque management of its App Store is compatible with the necessary scrutiny and respect for human rights principles and values that is required of private companies.

“Apple’s content curation policies represent a denial of the company’s stated principles and values and show a lack of respect for privacy and the protection of users’ rights. In Russia, Apple has enabled censorship of vulnerable communities while promoting apps that are used by the government for surveillance purposes,” added Ismail.&nbsp;


“<a href="https://applecensorship.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Apps-at-Risk_-Apples-Censorship-and-Compromises-in-Hong-Kong.pdf" target="_self">Apps at Risk: Apple’s censorship and compromises in Hong Kong</a>“

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<h2>&nbsp;“Apps at risk” investigates Apple’s censorship in Hong Kong’s App Store and assesses the compromises that Apple has made in the special administrative region.</h2>

Whether pressed by Hong Kong local administration or by the Chinese central government, on a number of occasions Apple has complied with demands to censor content deemed in violation of local laws or simply critical of Beijing.  

“Apps at risk” highlights threats to freedom of information that Apple’s predominance in Hong Kong poses. Some of the key findings included in the report include:

●          Hong Kongers’ reliance on mobile apps that are banned in China to communicate and access information make Apple a defect “kill switch” at the disposal of the Chinese censors.
●          While Hong Kong’s App Store remains relatively free compared to China’s App Store, a series of tests conducted in 2022 reveal that Hong Kong’s App Store is more restrictive than other App Stores considered “free”. The unavailability of apps in the Hong Kong App Store is higher than most of the 173 App Stores monitored by AppleCensorship.
●          In November 2022, a surprisingly high number of VPN and private browsing apps (more than 50) were found to be unavailable in Hong Kong’s App Store.
●          A number of apps related to media and information have been removed globally over the last two years, raising the possibility that self-censorship or censorship by Apple on behalf of the authorities are affecting apps’ availability globally.
●          Apple has not made any public commitment to uphold Hong Kongers’ fundamental rights to access information and express their opinion online. If the Chinese authorities were to increase digital censorship in the region, nobody knows how Apple will respond.

AppleCensorship has issued a set of recommendations for Apple, including demands that Apple declare publicly what measures it will take if Beijing increases its crackdown on digital freedoms and access to information in Hong Kong.

“Apple should make it very clear what actions it will, or will not take, to resist app takedown requests from Beijing or from Hong Kong’s government agencies,” said Ismail.

AppleCensorship has also made a similar demand regarding the company’s presence in Russia, asking that Apple “take measures to prevent any return to a normalization of its relationship with the Russian government.”

“As our two reports show, examples of Apple’s censorship abound. Apple’s temporary withdrawal from Russia following the start of the war in Ukraine, and Apple’s decision to move part of its production out of China, have not provided tangible evidence of any improvement of the situation in the App Store so far. For all we know, Apple is still willing to collaborate with repressive regimes.

We need to ensure that Apple will not contribute further to censorship and the erosion of democracy worldwide. This is why we will continue to monitor and highlight all cases of censorship, as well as to support any legislation that would reduce Apple’s dangerous hegemony over the peoples’ digital space”, Ismail concluded.


Read “<a href="https://applecensorship.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/AppleCensorship_Report_United-Apple-c.pdf" target="_self">United Apple: Apple’s censorship and compromises in Russia</a>“
Read “<a href="https://applecensorship.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Apps-at-Risk_-Apples-Censorship-and-Compromises-in-Hong-Kong.pdf" target="_self">Apps at Risk: Apple’s censorship and compromises in Hong Kong</a>“&nbsp;

The fundamental rights of millions are impacted when Apple does business with authoritarian regimes

“Taken Down” A Look into Apple’s Transparency Reports

在欧洲限制言论自由是专制者的胜利

When it comes to deciding whether an app should be offered in the App Store, Apple uses a vertical decision-making structure. The order and importance of Apple’s decision-making process runs counter to the normal structure of a legal system in any democratic society.
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At the top of this scale of rules are the decisions of Apple CEO Tim Cook and Apple management, sometimes brought together in a committee called the App Store Review Board. Cook involves others to encourage collegiality and lend legitimacy to his decisions. Regardless of whether an application meets international standards, local law, or even developer guidelines, Tim Cook and Apple management have the right to determine the availability of any application.

Many applications which serve the public’s interest, host a pluralism of opinions, or strengthen democracy, have seen this sword of Damocles descend upon them. This was the case for the censorship of the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/04/business/media/new-york-times-apps-apple-china.html" target="_self"><ins>New York Times</ins> <ins>application</ins></a> in 2017. The app’s removal from China’s App Store had nothing to do with compliance with Chinese law or a violation of Apple’s internal rules. This was merely a case of Apple aiding the efforts of the Chinese authorities to censor an independent and critical voice. Ultimately, it was Tim Cook who gave his approval for this baseless removal.

The application of billionaire <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/17/technology/apple-china-censorship-data.html" target="_self"><ins>Guo Wengui</ins></a>, the Chinese Communist Party critic who is self-exiled in the United States, was also removed from the Chinese App Store after the intervention of several senior Apple executives. One of these executives claimed, without providing proof, that the app’s content was illegal in China.
The second most important set of rules involved in the removal of apps is contained in the “App Store Review Guidelines”. These guidelines are used as the irrefutable justification for Apple to explain the censorship of any app. In fact, all decisions to remove apps from one, several, or all App Stores could technically be justified by these guidelines. The guidelines include a catch-all super law, which can apply to every censorship decision:

“We will reject Apps for any content or behavior that we believe is over the line. What line, you ask? Well, as a Supreme Court Justice once said, “I’ll know it when I see it”. And we think that you will also know it when you cross it.“

In 2015, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/sep/30/apple-removing-drone-strikes-app" target="_self"><ins>Metadata+</ins> <ins>and</ins> <ins>Ephemeral+</ins></a>, which both provided news alerts on drone attacks launched by the US military, were removed from all App Stores. In January 2021, the social network <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2021/1/9/22221730/apple-removes-suspends-bans-parler-app-store" target="_self"><ins>Parler</ins></a> was removed from all 155 App Stores for allegedly violating Apple’s vague and opaque rules.
It is now a well-established fact that Apple works closely with the most authoritarian regimes on the planet to ensure the economic sustainability of its operations. Also, it is becoming more and more commonplace for the firm to comply with the censorship requests of said governments. Apple justifies its political censorship decisions by invoking its obligation to “comply with the laws” of the countries in which it operates. Apple conveniently refuses to question the legality of the requests submitted to it by these regimes.

Thousands of apps, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/29/technology/china-apple-censorhip.html?_r=0" target="_self"><ins>including several hundred VPNs</ins></a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/dec/31/iphone-china-blocks-dalai-lama?mobile-redirect=false" target="_self"><ins>Tibetan</ins></a> and <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/apple-hosts-apps-run-by-china-paramilitary-group-accused-of-uyghur-genocide?utm_content=article-5431&utm_campaign=article_email&utm_source=sg&utm_medium=email" target="_self"><ins>Uyghur religious</ins></a> and cultural apps, apps containing essays on politics, social media apps, and privacy tools have been blocked in China on charges of being illegal in the country.

In August 2021, Apple removed the gay social networking app <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/turkey-apple-removes-hornet-gay-dating-app" target="_self"><ins>Hornet</ins></a> from the App Store in Turkey, even though the court ruling used by the firm to justify its censorship did not require the removal of the application from its platform. On September 13, 2021, the tactical voting application of Russian political opponent Alexey <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/17/world/europe/russia-navalny-app-election.html" target="_self"><ins>Navalny</ins></a>, was removed by Apple in order to appease the authorities. It also aided Vladimir Putin, who was worried about the popular support enjoyed by his main opponent, who has been imprisoned since March 2021.
Meanwhile, human rights and international standards remain the least considered reasons for the removal of apps by Apple. <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/apple-human-rights-policy-beijing-censorship-free-speech-a9704981.html" target="_self"><ins>Apple states its “Commitment to Human Rights”</ins></a> in its – almost hidden – <a href="https://s2.q4cdn.com/470004039/files/doc_downloads/gov_docs/Apple-Human-Rights-Policy.pdf" target="_self"><ins>human rights policy document</ins></a>. Although Apple has shown many times that when the  ’legal” demands of repressive governments and human rights are at odds, the company will side with governments.

The end result is that there are a number of apps in Apple’s App Store which directly infringe on human rights, fundamental freedoms, and privacy, yet enjoy full availability in the App Store without fear of meddling by Apple. 

The Saudi Arabia government-owned <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/05/06/saudi-arabias-absher-app-controlling-womens-travel-while-offering-government" target="_self"><ins>Absher</ins></a> let Saudi men track the movement of women and also allowed men to prevent women from leaving the country. A number of apps developed by a Chinese State-owned economic and paramilitary organization, the <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/apple-hosts-apps-run-by-china-paramilitary-group-accused-of-uyghur-genocide" target="_self"><ins>Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps</ins></a>, which has been sanctioned by the US government, remain in the App Store.
This chart reflects the inequity of how Apple applies international, national, and internal regulations and standards, and in particular the arbitrariness that prevails in their decision-making. We encourage Tim Cook to use this chart as a basis to find a coherent, fair, ethical, and responsible scale of norms. 

But for that to happen, Apple must start by flipping its own scale of values upside down. Only then can Tim Cook say, hand on heart “We are not afraid to say that our values drive our curation decisions“.

Apple values are upside down

<h2>AppleCensorship publishes a report investigating Russia’s App Store further. By comparing Russia’s App Store with China’s App Store, AppleCensorships seeks to provide information on the specificity and the extent of Russia’s App Store censorship.&nbsp;</h2>

<h2>On December 22, 2022, AppleCensorship released a report highlighting Apple’s censorship of its Russia’s App Store and the company’s many compromises with the authorities which have impacted freedom of information and expression in the country. </h2>
The report investigates Russia’s App Store, where many LGBTQ+ related apps are blocked.

Read the December 2022 report: “<a href="https://wp.applecensorship.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/AppleCensorship_Report_United-Apple-c.pdf" target="_self"><ins>United Apple: Apple’s censorship and compromises in Russia</ins></a>“

Based on data collected from 2019 until the end of 2022 and tests on more than 15,000 apps, the report highlighted the following facts: 
 
<ul>
<li>Patterns of app removals from Russia’s App Store detected by the App Store Monitor (ASM) suggest that specific groups of apps have been targeted by the Russian authorities and that a system of Apple-enforced targeted censorship is in place in Russia’s App Store.</li>
<li>LGBTQ+ related apps constitute the most prominent type of apps being unavailable in Russia’s App Store, with at least 25 apps currently unavailable, including some of the most popular LGBTQ+ apps in the world.</li>
<li>More than 30 VPN and private browsing apps have been taken down since the start of the war in Ukraine, while the Russian authorities were announcing that “measures were being taken to limit access to VPN services that violate Russian law”.</li>
<li>Although Russia’s App Store does not reflect the ongoing crackdown on online information led by the Russian government, the list of unavailable apps continues to grow as the App Store Monitor unveils new instances of apps’ unavailability or removals from Russia’s App Store.</li>
</ul>
 
<h2>Goals of the survey</h2>

Following up on the report published in December last year, which pointed to an increase of removals since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, this study aims at investigating Russia’s App Store further. Comparing Russia’s App Store with China’s App Store can help us assess if some apps or categories of apps are considered as sensitive apps/content for both countries, in addition to providing an indication on the extent of Russia’s App Store censorship and on its ratio of apps’ unavailability. 
<h2>Method</h2>
<h2>Between December 23 and December 26, 2022, the App Store Monitor’s routine scan of the 175 App Stores operated by Apple worldwide, was interrupted and replaced by the following instructions: </h2>

<h2>1. We checked all the apps unavailable in mainland China’s App Store, in Russia’s App Store: </h2>

By the end of 2022, more than 38,000 apps had been tested in China’s App Store, while around 20,000 apps had been tested in Russia’s App Store. Since the ASM does not maintain a list of all apps tested in a given App Store, It is impossible to conduct identical tests in both App Stores. However, it is possible to test unavailable apps from a given App Store, in another App Store. By doing so, we not only obtain further data on apps which were possibly unavailable due to censorship (i.e. sensitive apps), but also increase the comparability between the two App Stores, decreasing the risk of discrepancies due to one App Store having more relevant apps tested for availability than the other. 

2. We tested availability of all the apps unavailable in Russia’s App Store, in China’s App Store: 

By repeating the same process in reverse, we strengthen further the data set, reaching a satisfying level of comparability which allows us to look into specific categories of apps in more detail. 

3. Comparing the App Stores, and identify potential trends in terms of unavailable apps’ categories, content and function. 

After both batteries of tests, we can export the data and start analyzing it. We try to identify if China’s App Store and Russia’s App Store each have their own specific types of unavailable apps or if the shared unavailability of some apps have significance or are merely incidental. 

<h2>Results</h2>

1. Testing each other’s unavailable apps and augmenting comparability

<a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15x7v4To9nzYuEWxeF2XnR2ulDVKFowlh/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=110564074527003717278&rtpof=true&sd=true" target="_self"><ins>Click here to see all the data on unavailable apps in Russia's App Store and China's App Store</ins></a><ins> </ins>
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 We started by testing apps from China’s list of unavailable apps in Russia’s App Store, as the latter had much fewer apps tested. After all 10,481 apps were tested, Russia’s list of unavailable apps did not change significantly. Although it appears that, out of the 10,481 apps from China’s list of unavailable apps, around 3,600 had never been tested in Russia’s App Store, only 507 new unavailable apps were recorded, indicating that the vast majority of “new” apps tested in Russia’s App Store were available. This even led to a slight decrease of the unavailability percentage of 0.56% from 17.75% to 17.19%. Very few “local apps” have been added to Russia’s list (only 39) which confirms that “local apps” constitute a small part of China’s list of unavailable apps. This is also due to Russia’s App Store having recorded a significant number of unavailable local Chinese apps (apps only available in China’s App Store). 

The movements that are observed in China’s App Store after the series of tests are attributed to external users which continue to use the website to test new apps, as well as to additional tests run by the App Store Monitor, as the algorithm extends its testing in more App Stores when encountering apps which test unavailable in a given App Store. 


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 We subsequently tested apps unavailable in Russia’s App Store, to verify their availability in China’s App Store. We were aiming at equalizing the data set with this step rather than exploring the availability of apps from Russia’s list, as most of them had already been tested in China’s App Store. However, the addition of 689 new apps out of which 183 were found to be unavailable, came as a surprise and is significant enough to be noted. 
2. China’s App Store vs. Russia’s App Store
 
Similar unavailable apps
 
In order to identify apps which were unavailable in both App Stores, we aggregated the two lists and looked for duplicate apps. In total, we found 2,926 apps. 
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Looking at the aggregated list in more detail, we can sort apps by category and see if certain types of apps are more often blocked by one or the other App Store.

Some categories are composed of a majority of apps that are blocked in both App Stores. 66% to 86% of the apps which belong to the “Food &amp; Drink”, “Shopping”, “Medical”, “Sports”, “Weather” and "Navigation” categories, are unavailable in both Russia and China’s App Stores. 

These high percentages could have been interpreted as an indication that these categories, which usually do not include sensitive content, are not subjected to targeted censorship but rather contain apps that are unavailable in multiple App Stores for reasons other than censorship. However, the presence of the “Shopping” category in the list, which we know contain many apps that were specifically removed by their owners from Russia’s App Store after the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, comes as a contradiction to this interpretation. See our report “<a href="https://wp.applecensorship.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/AppleCensorship_Report_United-Apple-c.pdf" target="_self"><ins>United Apple: Apple’s censorship and compromises in Russia</ins></a><ins>”</ins> for more information on the unavailability of apps from the Shopping category.


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Categories with the smallest proportion of apps unavailable in both App Stores include: 
Developer Tools (0.00%) ; Book (10.06%) ; Education (12.30%) ; Games (13.45%) ; Stickers (14.29%) ; Reference (14.53%) ; Magazines &amp; Newspapers (15.15%) ; Productivity (19.80%) ; Photo &amp; Video (20.78%) ; News (26.62%) 
 In each case, China’s App Store list has significantly more apps than Russia’s App Store list: 
Developer Tools (Cn: 7 ; Ru: 2) ; Book (Cn: 262 ; Ru: 15) ; Education (Cn: 327 ; Ru: 58) ; Games (Cn: 4943 ; Ru: 294) ; Stickers (Cn:6 ; Ru: 0) ; Reference (Cn: 84 ; Ru: 16) ; Magazines &amp; Newspapers (Cn: 25 ; Ru: 3) ; Productivity (Cn: 284 ; Ru: 44) ; Photo &amp; Video (Cn: 79 ; Ru: 43) ; News (Cn: 176 ; Ru: 28) 
Three categories stand out from this list: Book, News and Productivity apps. News apps are widely unavailable in China, with 176 unavailable apps, a figure which consistently reflects China’s control of the press and information. Although Russia’s crackdown on press freedom has increased in the past year, this is not immediately evident in Russia’s iOS App Store. 
China’s App Store has almost 20 times more Book apps than Russia’s App Store. As for Productivity apps, China’s categorical ban of VPN apps explains the difference, although Russia’s number of unavailable Productivity apps remains non-negligible. With 44 unavailable apps, Productivity ranks 9th in Russia’s App Store, in terms of unavailable apps. 


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 When comparing most unavailable categories in each App Store, we can see immediately that Games and Utilities apps ranks first and second in both App Stores. Similarly, Stickers, Graphics &amp; Design, Weather, Developer Tools and Navigation apps rank at the bottom of both App Stores.
 
Despite the fact that China’s App Store always has more unavailable apps than Russia, ranking categories by number of unavailable apps allows us to notice three categories that hold a particular position in Russia’s App Store. Contrary to China’s App Store, Lifestyle, Business and Shopping categories rank rather high in Russia’s App Store. If reasons are already put forward for the unavailability of apps belonging to the Shopping category, looking at Business and Lifestyle apps in detail reveals a significant number of Chinese owned apps in both App Stores. Rather than pointing at a targeted block in Russia’s App Store, this indicates that China’s App Store includes a number of apps only available in China and which, when tested in Russia’s App Store, were logically found unavailable, as they would have been in any App Store outside of China. 
 
<h2>Monitoring censorship in Russia’s and China’s App Store </h2>

At the moment, Russia’s App Store does not seem to be concerned by categorical bans. However, it has already been established that certain types of apps, spread across various categories, such as LGBTQ+ related apps, are subjects of widespread unavailability. Monitoring of Russia’s App Store in the future thus needs to be conducted by using ad hoc categories of apps or apps related to specific keywords (such as “LGBTQ+”, “human rights”) as well as by identifying individual apps (ex: U.S. media apps, popular VPN apps, etc.) and apps’ developers (ex: political opposition leader Navalny’s apps), in order to detect more efficiently future app removals ordered by Roskomnadzor and enforced by Apple. 

Additionally, while China’s App Store remains the most severely censored App Store worldwide, and continues to require constant and widespread monitoring, the present study suggests that there could be an interest in looking at apps which are released only in China’s App Store, and sometimes in other Chinese-speaking territories such as Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Singapore, in order to better understand China’s strategy for information control and apps which aim at replacing the void left by the widespread removal of categories of apps and specific content. &nbsp;